TikTok admits that Chinese employees can access European data
TikTok has communicated that its employees outside of Europe, including those located in China, can access the personal data of European users
TikTok admits: European user data is accessible to employees outside the Old Continent, including China.
On November 2, TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, updated its privacy policies for European users. “As of today, we are sending notifications regarding the update of our Privacy Policy for the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The updates offer greater transparency about how we share user information outside of Europe, ”explains Elaine Fox, Head of Privacy, Europe at TikTok.
The update also provides explanations on the different ways in which information on the location of European users can be collected.
The move reflects the intense scrutiny TikTok has faced over its international data streams amid political and regulatory concerns about China's access to user information on the platform. TikTok has always rejected the accusations. The company insists that it has never provided user data to the Chinese government. And that stores user data in the United States and Singapore and Ireland. In the latter country starting in 2023 when its new data center will be opened.
All the details.
THE ARCHIVING OF EUROPEAN DATA IN THE USA AND SINGAPORE
First of all, “European user data is currently stored in the United States and Singapore”, says TikTok.
BUT ACCESS TO DATA ALSO TO TIKTOK EMPLOYEES IN CHINA (AND NOT ONLY)
Then, "On the basis of actual needs for the performance of their work, we allow remote access to the data of TikTok users to some employees who are part of our company who are located in Brazil, Canada, China, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and the United States ”explained the Chinese company.
All this "in compliance with a series of solid security controls and approval protocols, and through methods recognized by the GDPR", points out TikTok.
The data could be used to conduct checks on aspects of the platform, says TikTok.
In reality there is not much to be surprised. As the Guardian recalls, TikTok had already recognized that some user data is accessible to employees of the parent company, ByteDance, in China.
THE EFFORTS OF TIKTOK
However, the company reassures that “Our efforts focus on limiting the number of employees who have access to European user data, minimizing data flows outside Europe and keeping European user data at local level ".
THE POLITICAL PRESSURES ON THE CHINESE APP
The updated privacy policy applies to the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area and Switzerland and will take effect on 2 December.
The change affects more than one billion TikTok users worldwide.
The growth of the popular short video app is also certified by the new report released a month ago by Sensor Tower. The report shows that TikTok has become the highest-grossing app in the world even though the general market is experiencing a slight decline.
But the move comes in a context of political and regulatory pressures on the use of app-generated data.
STARTING FROM THE USA
In August 2020, TikTok was in the crosshairs of the US administration of former President Donald Trump . At the time, the White House had ordered the Chinese company to divest its TikTok business in the United States in the wake of national security concerns. But the US administration has changed since then.
In fact, current US President Biden has ordered the cancellation of Trump's executive orders relating to TikTok. However, Biden asked the US Department of Commerce to produce recommendations to protect people's data in the US from "foreign adversaries". The US Foreign Investment Committee (CFIUS), which examines trade deals with non-US companies, is also conducting a security review of TikTok, the Guardian recalls.
THE INVESTIGATION IN IRELAND
Without forgetting that in 2021 the Data Protection Commission of Ireland (which is the reference regulator for TikTok throughout the EU), launched an investigation into "transfers of personal data by TikTok to China" .
The Irish Privacy Guarantor told TechCrunch yesterday that he expects his investigation of TikTok to move to the next stage in the coming months. A draft decision should reach the EU Guarantors for review in the first quarter of next year.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/tiktok-ammette-che-i-dipendenti-cinesi-possono-accedere-ai-dati-europei/ on Fri, 04 Nov 2022 14:09:14 +0000.