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Government employees in the USA and Canada must delete Tiktok app from smartphone

28.2.2023

Translation: machine translated

In future, the Tiktok app may no longer be installed on smartphones issued by the USA government to its employees. This has been decreed by US President Joe Biden. In Canada, the ban is effective immediately.

Fearing Chinese espionage, the governments in the USA and Canada have banned the use of the Tiktok short video service app on their devices. In the USA, employees have 30 days to delete the app. In Canada, the app must be removed immediately.

Both North American countries refer to the methods used by Tiktok to collect data on the use of its service. According to the Canadian government, this makes users vulnerable to cyberattacks. In the USA, the directive, which comes directly from the White House, specifically mentions the threat to sensitive government agency data as the reason for the ban. Irrespective of the new tightening, various authorities and ministries had already previously restricted the use of Tiktok. Members of the Senate and House of Representatives also no longer use the app.

A few days ago, the EU Commission also sent its employees a request to remove the Tiktok app from their work devices. Anyone who does not comply with this request must expect to no longer be able to use the EU Commission's internal email service.

And in Switzerland? As the Swiss government last reported in January, a Tiktok ban is not currently under discussion. At the beginning of the year, some members of parliament initiated the discussion. They are keeping a close eye on current developments - and are focussing on personal responsibility.

Influence of the Chinese government?

The Chinese company Bytedance is behind the Tiktok app. In the West, it is suspected that the Chinese government has influence over the company and uses the data obtained via the globally successful Tiktok app for its own purposes. At the end of 2022, it became known that the movement data of US journalists from Tiktok was being used to monitor them.

At the end of 2022, Tiktok recently secured extensive access to users' personal data - including that of users in the EU, the UK and Switzerland - by amending its terms of use.

Tiktok expressed its disappointment at the current restrictions imposed by Western governments. They had not been consulted before the ban and had not had a chance to invalidate the concerns.

Cover photo: Solen Feyissa / pexels.com

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Martin Jungfer

Head of Content

Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.

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