The Canadian government announced Monday that it will ban the TikTok app from the mobile devices it provides to its staff starting Tuesday, citing “an unacceptable level of risk” to privacy and security.
“On a mobile device, TikTok’s data collection methods provide considerable access to phone content,” Treasury Department Chair Mona Fortier said, adding in a statement that it was taken “as a precautionary measure.”
increasingly scrutinized
A TikTok spokeswoman reacted by deploring, in an email to AFP, a “curious” decision, taken “without citing any specific security issues”, and regretting that the platform has not been contacted by the government.
The ultra-popular short video and viral video platform, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is coming under increasing scrutiny by Westerners who fear that Beijing could access user data from around the world in this way.
This ban in Canada comes days after a similar decision by the European Commission, which banned TikTok from its staff to “protect” the institution.
An ongoing investigation
TikTok is also in the crosshairs of the US authorities: a law ratified a few weeks ago by President Joe Biden prohibits the use of this application in the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as on the devices of officials.
Relations between China and Canada have deteriorated dramatically in recent years, particularly after Canada’s arrest at the request of the United States of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in 2018.
Canada’s Privacy Commissioner announced last week that it has launched an investigation into TikTok with the aim of establishing its compliance with Canadian law. Its purpose in particular is to verify that “TikTok has obtained valid consent for the collection, use and communication of personal information”.
Source: BFM TV
