Federal Communications Commissioner Brendon Carr has asked Google and Apple to remove the popular social media app Tiktok from their App Store, saying the app “collects sensitive data that is being accessed in a new report in Beijing.”
Carr is a quote BuzzFeed News reports based on leaked audio Statements from internal TikTok meetings that include, despite assurances from TikTok that it has regionalized data access and has a US-based security team to handle the issues, “[indicate] That Chinese engineers accessed U.S. data between September 2021 and January 2022, at least. ” The story said that US-based engineers were not able to access user data independently.
“Finally, the tapes suggest that the company has misled lawmakers, its users, and the public that data stored in the United States can still be accessed by Chinese employees,” wrote BuzzFeed News’ Emily Baker-White.
While testifying before Congress in 2021, TikTok’s public policy for the U.S. told lawmakers that the agency “has a world-renowned U.S.-based security team that manages access,” as Reported by Reuters On time
In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Carr wrote: “It is clear that TikTok poses an unacceptable national security risk because its extensive data collection is combined with apparently unverified access to that sensitive data in Beijing,” and so on. Based Buzzfeed news The app is likely to be out of compliance with Apple and Google’s own App Store policies, the report said. TikTok, he continued, “is not just an app for sharing funny videos or memes. That’s sheepskin. At its core, TikTok serves as a sophisticated surveillance tool that collects a wide range of personal and sensitive data. ”
Carr asked the two tech giants to remove TikTok from their App Store or explain why by July 8th.
