TikTok “is the ultimate data source for anyone with hostile efforts,” says the chair of the UK’s foreign affairs committee.
Alicia Kearns, a Conservative MP labelled the video-sharing app – which is owned by ByteDance, a company based in China – as a “vulnerability” to the safety of personal data amid calls for US President Biden to ban the app.
The lawmaker told Sky News’ ‘Sophy Ridge on Sunday’: “It is not worth having that vulnerability on your phone.
“It is the ultimate data source for anyone with hostile efforts.”
When Alicia was asked by Sophy, if people ought to delete the app from their devices, she said: “Without question”.
A rep for TikTok – whose platform boasts more than one billion users across the world – refuted the allegations made by the politician amid an international wave of criticisms about how it collects the personal data of its account holders, which lead the American legislature, the United States Congress banning the app being downloaded on devices issued b by the body.
They told the channel:
“TikTok is enjoyed by millions of people across the UK, and we want to be clear that they can trust us with their data.
“We’re taking steps like storing UK user data in our data centre operations in Ireland, starting this year; further reducing employee access to data; and minimising data flows outside of Europe.
“We have written to Ms Kearns on a number of occasions to ensure she has all the facts and information available and we look forward to having constructive engagement with her on these important issues in the near future.”