TikTok draws ire after admitting Chinese staffers can access US user data

But denies info goes to the Communist Party of China

TikTok’s admission that some China-based workers have access to data on US users provided fresh ammunition to a Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission who is trying to get the video-sharing service dropped from major app stores. 

“There is apparently a tremendous amount of information that was flowing back to Beijing,” Commissioner Brendan Carr said on Bloomberg TV Tuesday. “I don’t have a lot of trust left in TikTok.”

TikTok has been questioned by US officials over whether private data on Americans may have been handed over to the authoritarian regime in China. The app, owned by ByteDance, said in a letter last week that certain China-based employees can access information from US users, but denied information goes to the Chinese Communist Party.

“For two years, we’ve talked openly about our work to limit access to user data across regions, and in our letter to senators last week we were clear about our progress in limiting access even further through our work with Oracle,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement. “As we’ve said repeat­edly, TikTok has never shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government, nor would we if asked.”

In a June 24 letter, Carr asked Apple and Google to remove the popular app from their stores. The companies declined to comment. The FCC, where Carr serves as a minority member, doesn’t regulate app stores.

US’ precautionary measures
 

• In 2020, the Trump administration ordered ByteDance to divest TikTok though that sale hasn’t actually happened
• The app is banned on many US government-issued devices and among the military
• The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is reviewing these concerns related to privacy and national security

What data does it collect?

• Location
• IP address 
• Search history
• Messages
• What you look at and for how long. 
• Device identifiers to track your interactions with advertisers 
• If you provide access, it can also collect your phone and social network contacts 
• Access to all your user-generated content through the app, which includes all those videos and pictures you post

China accuses US of ‘tech terrorism’ as chip curbs grow

China accused the US of “technological terrorism” in pushing to stop ASML Holding NV and Nikon from selling key chipmaking technology to the country, in some of its strongest criticism yet of Washington’s efforts.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokes­man Zhao Lijian lashed out at Washi­ngton after Bloomberg News reported the US is lobbying allies to stop the sale of mainstream technology essential for making a large chunk of the world’s chips, expanding a years-long campaign to curb the country’s rise. He didn’t say whether China planned any retaliatory measures in response to the move.