Tiktok app banned from mobile phones by Canadian government. October 14, 2022. MICHAEL DWYER/AP
The order comes from the White House. Washington on Monday, February 27, asked all federal agencies to remove the TikTok application from its mobile devices within 30 days, citing concerns about the security of user data. A few agencies, such as the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, had already implemented such restrictions.
On the same day, the Canadian government announced it would ban the TikTok application from the mobile devices it provides to its employees starting Tuesday, citing an “unacceptable risk” to privacy and security. An emergency ban.
“On a mobile device, TikTok’s data collection methods provide significant access to phone content,” Treasury Department President Mona Fortier said, adding that the ban was taken “as a pre-emptive measure.” “We currently have no reason to believe that government information has been compromised,” she added.
A spokesman for TikTok responded by emailing Agence France-Presse regretting a “curious” decision made “without stating any specific security issue” and deploring that the platform was not contacted by the government.
The hugely popular application of short and viral videos, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is coming under increasing scrutiny from Westerners who fear it could allow Beijing to access users’ data around the world.
In the wake of the European Commission
This ban in Canada comes days after a similar decision by the European Commission that banned TikTok for its employees to “protect” the institution.
Also read: Article reserved for our TikTok subscribers accused of spying on America and corrupting the youth
TikTok is also in the crosshairs of the American authorities: a law ratified a few weeks ago by President Joe Biden bans the use of this application in the House of Representatives and in the Senate as well as on the devices of officials.
China-Canada relations have deteriorated sharply in recent years, particularly after Canada’s arrest in 2018 at the request of US Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou.
Also Read: European Commission Bans TikTok from Employee Phones
Canada’s Data Protection Commissioner announced last week that it has launched an investigation into TikTok to determine whether TikTok complies with Canadian laws. Specifically, it aims to verify that “TikTok has obtained valid consent to collect, use, and share personal information.”
The Treasury President reminded that the general public is not affected by this ban: “For the general public, the decision to use an application or a social media platform is a personal choice. However, the Communications Security Establishment’s Canadian Center for Cyber Security guidelines strongly recommend Canadians understand the risks and make an informed decision before deciding which tools to use. »