The Canadian government will prohibit federal employees from using the TikTok application on official cell phones as of Tuesday for posing an “unacceptable” risk to their privacy and security.
Mona Fortier, president of the Treasury Council of Canada, the public body in charge of supervising federal officials, said in a statement that starting Tuesday the application will be deleted from all official cell phones.
“Users of these devices will also be blocked from downloading the app in the future. Following a review of TikTok, Canada’s CIO determined that it poses an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.”he explained.
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Fortier justified the move because TikTok’s data collection and input methods “provide considerable access to the contents of the phone.”
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, declared this Monday in a press conference that, although the Government wants to respect the right to freedom of expression of Canadians, there are also “very important principles on the protection of data and the security of the Canadians”.
“Like many countries around the world, we are carefully considering how to ensure the safety of Canadians online. And the decision is that it is better that government teams and workers do not have access to TikTok due to concerns about its security.”Trudeau added.
The Canadian prime minister also anticipated that other Canadians will consider the risk TikTok poses to their security “and perhaps” take action accordingly.
Likewise, Trudeau opened the door for the Government to adopt more measures to guarantee the security of official apparatus.
The ban on the use of TikTok on official Canadian cell phones comes just days after the European Union adopted a similar measure. The United States already banned the use of TikTok on official cell phones in 2022.