Tiktok once again has to defend itself against accusations that the short video platform is storing user data in China. The reason is an article in the American news magazine “Forbes”. There, citing internal documents, it is claimed that some users’ financial data are stored in China. The article prompted further inquiries from members of the US Congress. Several members of Congress have asked US Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate whether Tiktok boss Shou Zi Chew made false statements in his interrogation before the US Congress.
Governments in many countries are concerned that Tiktok’s proprietary user data could be leaked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). That is why the United States of America and many European countries, among others, have prohibited members of the government from installing Tiktok on company cell phones. To allay these worries, Tiktok boss Chew asked questions in the American Congress in March.
During the interrogation, he insisted that Tiktok does not store proprietary data in China or share it with the CCP. The data of American users has so far been stored in data centers in Singapore and in America; the data of European users as well. In addition, the data streams in America would be disclosed to the American technology company Oracle for investigation in the future. In this way it can be determined whether any of this is going to China.
No “protected data” was sent to China
The inquiries from Congress members Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn that arose as a result of the “Forbes” article have now been answered by Tiktok in a letter that is also available to the FAZ. In it, the company further maintains that no “private information” has been sent to China or shared with the CCP. Chew’s testimonies in Congress relate to this proprietary information.
However, the group now distinguishes between protected data of “normal” users and certain data that is necessary to ensure the global interoperability of the platform. In the past it was emphasized that certain metadata would be shared. The data from users who enter into a business relationship with Tiktok is now being sharpened. The so-called creators, who create videos on the platform and earn money from them, agreed to pass on data that was collected outside of regular app use. The letter does not admit a connection to China, but does not explicitly deny it either.
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Tiktok repeatedly claims that the platform is not Chinese. The legal headquarters of the parent company Bytedance is on the Cayman Islands. The individual sub-units of Tiktok are based in the US state of California and in Great Britain. However, the group also maintains a large headquarters in Beijing, where a large part of the software development for Tiktok and the Chinese sister platform Douyin takes place.