The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States has put the clock on Communist China-based social media giant, TikTok..FCC commissioner Brendan Carr sent a letter to executives at Apple and Google, where the TikTok app is available, requesting they remove it from their stores, warning about a national security threat.."TikTok is not what it appears to be on the surface," Carr wrote. "It's not just an app for sharing funny videos or memes. That's the sheep's clothing. At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data.".TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company, that BuzzFeed reports had access to private information about American TikTok users, who are mostly made up of teens and young people in their twenties..In the letter, Carr says ByteDance "is beholden to the Communist Party of China and required by Chinese law to comply with the PRC's surveillance demands.".TikTok has been under scrutiny in the US for several years by high-ranking politicians including, among others, senators Chuck Schummer and Tom Cotton, as well as President Biden and former President Trump, who threatened to ban it from the US.."The concerns over TikTok are shared on a bipartisan basis," wrote Carr..In mid-June, BuzzFeed reported that, on audio recordings made at ByteDance between September last year and January this year, employees located in China can be heard openly discussing accessing sensitive American user data, including phone numbers and birth dates..On one recording, a ByteDance employee in TikTok’s Trust and Safety department says, "Everything is seen in China.".According to the BuzzFeed report, the recordings were made of small-group meetings with company leaders and consultants and policy all-hands presentations, corroborated by screenshots and other documents..“Ultimately, the tapes suggest that the company may have misled lawmakers, its users, and the public by downplaying that data stored in the US could still be accessed by employees in China.”.In his letter, Carr says the data harvested goes far beyond phone numbers and birth dates..“Indeed, TikTok collects everything from search and browsing histories to keystroke patterns and biometric identifiers, including face prints — which researchers have said might be used in unrelated facial recognition technology –and voice prints.”.“It collects location data as well as draft messages and metadata, plus it has collected the text, images, and videos that are stored on a device’s clipboard. The list of personal and sensitive data it collects goes on from there.”.“This should come as no surprise, however. Within its own borders, the PRC has developed some of the most invasive and omnipresent surveillance capabilities in the world to maintain authoritarian control.”.Carr lists a series of security breaches as well as a list of US military services, security agencies and countries that have banned TikTok..In response to questions about data access, TikTok spokesperson Maureen Shanahan said in a statement: "We know we're among the most scrutinized platforms from a security standpoint, and we aim to remove any doubt about the security of US user data. That's why we hire experts in their fields, continually work to validate our security standards and bring in reputable, independent third parties to test our defences." .TikTok has also stated that “100% of US user traffic is being routed to Oracle Cloud infrastructure.".That isn’t good enough for Carr who said the data can still be accessed from outside the US, including Beijing..Carr reminds Apple and Google of their obligations to their own security standards and protocols..“Apple and Google have long claimed to operate their app stores in a manner that protects consumer privacy and safeguards their data. Therefore, I am requesting that you apply your app store policies to TikTok and remove it from [your app stores] for failing to comply with those policies.”.“If you do not remove TikTok from your app stores, please provide separate responses to me by July 8, 2022, explaining the basis for your company’s decision that the surreptitious access or private and sensitive US user data by persons located in Beijing, coupled with TikTok’s pattern of misleading representations and conduct, does not run afoul of any of your app store policies.”.Carr has sounded the alarm bells.
