Are your security threats at TikTok?

Are your security threats at TikTok?

Two senior US senators called on the government to study the risks to national security posed by a Chinese-owned video app TikTok
k, saying it would spur US consumers to spy on Beijing.

With over 500 million users worldwide, TikTok has grown in popularity over the past two years, offering a platform to create and publish up to 60 seconds long music videos.

In a letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Shummer and Republican Senator Tom Cotton suggested that Bitnus, the owner of Talk Talk, could be forced to share user information with Chinese intelligence.

It can also offer Beijing spies a backdoor to consumers' smartphones and computers, similar to the allegations leveled against Chinese telecommunications giant Dae Huawei.

"With over 110 million downloads in the United States alone, there is a potential threat to the Tick-Tack counter-war that we cannot ignore," he wrote, calling on the intelligence community to " Evaluate national security threats. "

Chinese law could force the company to support and co-operate the Chinese Communist Party's intelligence work, senators said.

He notes that TikTok also collects personal data from users, which makes it a security risk.

In a statement posted on its website, TikTok sought to distance itself from China, saying, "We are not affected by any foreign government, including the Chinese government." The company's data centers are located outside China and None of our data is subject to Chinese law, he said.

The social media firm denies that it removes content "on the basis of its sensitivity to China." We have never been asked by the Chinese government to remove any content, and if asked, we do so.

Senators also noted that the tick talk could potentially be used to influence voters in next year's elections, as the Russians manipulated US social media in the 2016 campaign.


He acknowledged that this app does not work in China, where Byte Dance offers a similar but separate Do Wine app and that TikTok's user data is protected in the United States.