In recent weeks, U.S. government officials and members of Congress have placed TikTok in their crosshairs, warning that personal data collected by the social media giant could be secretly sent back to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
TikTok, the popular video app, has taken a series of steps to convince U.S. officials the company is dedicated to protecting Americans’ data, including hiring Kevin Mayer, previously the head of streaming at Disney, as its CEO. It has also pushed for and held meetings with U.S. lawmakers, pulled out of Hong Kong due to a new severe Chinese national security law and published a “privacy roadmap.” In recent weeks, U.S.
“There are very few apps that have the ability to extract data to the extent that TikTok does,” wrote Ken Lloyd, VP of risk for mobile security research firm Zimperium. “TikTok collects data as soon as the app is downloaded, including how you type, down to keystroke rhythms and patterns.” One possible path for restricting TikTok may be through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, which reviews when other countries make certain types of U.S. acquisitions. As far back as October 2019, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin requesting that the committee “launch a full review of the national security implications” of the Chinese purchase of Musical.ly, the U.S. company that created the software behind TikTok.
With TikTok, it could demand certain concessions from ByteDance to protect national security, or do something even more drastic. In 2018 lawmakers passed a reform to legislation that governs the CFIUS review process, providing the interagency body with additional powers as well as requiring the committee to pay special attention to certain areas, such as protection of personal information.
Additionally, a May 2019 executive order on “securing information and communications technology and services supply chain” could allow Trump to block “any acquisition, importation, transfer, installation, dealing in, or use of any information and communications technology or service” dealing with communications technology and involving a foreign country or foreign person.
On March 5, the House passed Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s amendment to ban TikTok for employees of the Transportation Security Administration, following the agency’s own guidance against its use in late February. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in February proposed creating an “independent federal agency that would protect Americans’ data,” including from the tech companies that collect it.
Additionally, the platform could be the next major host of foreign disinformation, reaching millions of young people around the world, argued David Hanke, a former staff member on the Senate Intelligence Committee and the primary author of the 2018 Senate legislation that expanded the powers of CFIUS.
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