The European Commission (EU) has banned TikTok on official devices used by staff amid concerns over data protection, a spokesperson told the news agency AFP on Thursday. The ban means that EU Commission staff cannot use the app on personal devices, including phones, that have official apps installed, the spokesperson said, confirming a report by the news website Euractiv.
A European news website Euractiv has earlier reported that European Commission has asked its employees to uninstall TikTok from their official devices, as well as the personal devices using corporate apps, citing data protection concerns. According to the report request to uninstall the Chinese-owned social media app was communicated via email to EU officials on Thursday morning.
“To protect the Commission’s data and increase its cybersecurity, the EC [European Commission] Corporate Management Board has decided to suspend the TikTok application on corporate devices and personal devices enrolled in the Commission mobile device services,” said the email.
Staff members were instructed to comply as quickly as possible, but no later than March 15. Corporate programmes like the Commission email and Skype for Business won't be accessible to individuals who don't comply by the specified deadline, the report added.
The action is intended to safeguard Commission data and systems from potential cybersecurity risks and is warranted by data protection concerns relating to the app, it said.
“We are disappointed with this decision, which we believe to be misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions. We have contacted the Commission to set the record straight and explain how we protect the data of the 125 million people across the EU who come to TikTok every month,” a TikTok spokesperson told EURACTIV.
In November of last year, TikTok acknowledged that its Chinese headquarters had access to the personal information of its customers globally.
In the United States, TikTok has lately been prohibited on state and federally-owned devices. The Netherlands government apparently received advice against adopting the Chinese app, despite the fact that no European nation has followed the US precedent, the report said.
Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, met with EU representatives in Brussels last month for negotiations during which they cautioned TikTok on the security of the data of European users.