Users are being urged to remove the popular video-sharing app TikTok over concerns about how personal data is being used by the Chinese company that owns it.
Tory MP Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said users should remove the app from their devices “without hesitation”, suggesting TikTok is linked to China’s efforts to create a “technological totalitarian state”. to build.
As long as the app is popular, there have been concerns about its ties to China from parent company ByteDance.
Critics say the personal data collected by the company could then be passed on to the Chinese government.
After the United States shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, Kearns told Sky’s, Sophy Ridge, “We’re naive.
“TikTok gave evidence to my committee saying it was impossible for individuals working in China to access Britons’ data.
“But what we have now seen is that people working for TikTok in China have hacked into European data to track down the source of a journalist.
“Because what TikTok does is it gives away the data that makes you most vulnerable: who are you friends with; what are your interests; what are the interests you have that you may not wish to disclose; who you have private conversations with; the locations you go to.
“There is a reason why China has this app. There’s a reason they buy up gay dating apps.
“Our data is a major vulnerability and China is building a tech totalitarian state on our data.
“So we need to get much more serious about protecting ourselves.
(Canva) Kearns says “we need to get more serious about protecting ourselves.” (Image: Canva)
And yes, while balloons are a major diplomatic spike in the opportunity to have this conversation, our bigger concerns are the data penetration, the path China’s reliance on Chinese companies, the way they intimidate those who have taken refuge in the UK and the rest of the world.”
Asked if she is urging users to remove the app, Kearns replied: “Without a doubt.
“I don’t have it on my phone and it’s fascinating how often you talk to people and they say, ‘I’m going home tonight to have a serious talk with my kids’.
“It’s not worth having that vulnerability on your phone and it’s the ultimate source of data for anyone with hostile efforts.
“Fact is, now that I’m not just saying ‘I’m worried, delete it’, we have evidence that TikTok has been used to track down sources for journalists.
“Everyone should be concerned about that.”