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The BBC has asked staff to remove TikTok from company phones over privacy and security concerns about the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.
The BBC is the first British media organization to issue guidance of this kind on TikTok, and the second globally after a Danish public broadcaster did the same earlier this month.
The British press reported that BBC staff received the following email on Sunday: If you don’t need TikTok for business reasons, you should remove TikTok. ”
The message further states that the decision is “based on concerns raised by government authorities around the world regarding data privacy and security.” Experts point out that apps can illegally collect vast amounts of information from individual users, including emails, contacts, geodata, personal information, and more.
BBC employees who have TikTok on their personal phones but also use the device for work should contact their company’s information security team to assess the risks and the types of information they are working with. was asked to discuss
Despite security concerns, BCC will continue to use the platform for editorial and marketing purposes for now.
The BBC’s decision came just days after it was announced by the UK government. Ban on TikTok on devices provided to government employees.
“We also plan to ban the use of TikTok on government devices,” said Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden told the House of Commons on Friday. “We will have an immediate effect,” he said, calling the measures “good cyber hygiene.”
Similar steps have recently been taken by governments such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. All European Union officials are now subject to similar restrictions on the app.
TikTok has been a source of concern about data security risks for years. India has banned the app outright as early as 2020, along with WeChat and a number of other Chinese apps (59 in total). Downloading TikTok was banned by President Trump for all US citizens in August 2020, but the ban faced a series of legal issues. President Biden completely rescinded President Trump’s executive order in June 2021, but then approved his TikTok ban on government devices in December 2022.
Although TikTok has consistently denied any wrongdoing, it is suspected that data collected by the platform from company phones will be routinely shared with the Chinese government by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance in Beijing. Concerns remain. In 2017, China’s National People’s Congress law Force Chinese tech companies to comply with all demands of the Chinese Communist Party.
Companies operating in China are required by law to establish a branch of the Communist Party that can participate in decision-making to ensure that business activities are in line with the policies of the Communist Party government.
Many of the management positions within TikTok are held by members of the Communist Party.
TikTok is used by approximately 80 million Americans each month.
from NTD News
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