TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to testify that app never shared users’ data with Chinese government

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to testify Thursday in front of US lawmakers that the Chinese-owned app has never shared the data of US users with the government in China. The app, with over 150 million American users, has faced allegations that it shares user data with China, raising national security concerns.

“TikTok has never shared, or received a request to share, US user data with the Chinese government. Nor would TikTok honour such a request if one were ever made,” Chew will testify on Thursday, according to a written testimony posted on Tuesday by the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee.

The written testimony also says that TikTok's parent company ByteDance is not owned or controlled by any government or state entity. "Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country."

Calls for banning the app in the US have been growing, with lawmakers fearing that the app passes on data to the Chinese government. Several states have already banned its use on government devices. TikTok says that the Biden administration has asked Chinese owners to divest their stake in the app, or else it could face a ban in the country.

"Bans are only appropriate when there are no alternatives. But we do have an alternative," Chew's testimony said.

TikTok has said that in order to make the app more secure, it has spent more than $1.5 billion on rigorous data security efforts under the name "Project Texas". The company is also trying to convince lawmakers and the Biden administration to support the plan.

In 2020, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) unanimously recommended that ByteDance divest TikTok. ByteDance sought a deal with Walmart and Oracle to shift TikTok's US assets into a new entity but failed to reach a deal.

The video app has been in talks with CFIUS for more than two years, trying to reach an agreement on protecting data.

A special-purpose subsidiary, TikTok US Data Security (USDS), was formed which currently has nearly 1,500 full-time employees. It has entered a contract with Oracle to store TikTok’s US user data.

Chew said when the process is complete, "all protected US data will be under the protection of US law and under the control of the U.S.-led security team. Under this structure, there is no way for the Chinese government to access it or compel access to it."

According to Chew's testimony, 60 per cent of ByteDance is owned by global institutional investors, including Blackrock, General Atlantic, and Sequoia, about 20 per cent by the company’s founders, and about 20 per cent by its employees "including thousands of Americans."

(With inputs from agencies)

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