The Canadian government announced that it will ban the TikTok app from the mobile phones it provides to public servants starting Monday, arguing that it poses “an unacceptable level of risk” to privacy and security.
“On mobile, TikTok’s data collection methods give considerable access to phone content,” said Treasury Council President Minister Mona Fortier, who also added, in a statement, that the move was taken.” preventively.”
In any case, he added that “there is no reason to believe that at the moment the government’s information has been compromised.”
A TikTok spokeswoman spoke out, in an email message sent to AFP, deploring a “curious” decision, taken “without citing any specific security problems”, and regretting that the platform has not been contacted by the government.
The popular video platform, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is coming under increasing scrutiny by Westerners, who fear that Beijing could access the data of users around the world.
This decision by Canada comes days after a similar one by the European Commission, which banned TikTok from its staff to “protect” the institution.
TikTok is also on the American radar, as a law, ratified weeks ago by President Joe Biden, prohibits the use of this application in the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as on employee devices.
Relations between Canada and China have deteriorated dramatically in recent years, particularly since the arrest in Canada, at the request of the United States, of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in 2018.
The Canadian Commissioner for the Protection of Privacy announced last week the launch of an investigation into TikTok to determine its compliance with Canadian laws, particularly regarding the “collection, use and communication of personal information”.
Source: TSF
