Canada Bans TikTok on Government-issued Devices Over Privacy Concerns
TECHDIGEST– The Canadian government has announced that it will ban the popular video-sharing app TikTok from all government-issued devices starting from Tuesday.
The decision comes after a review by Canada’s chief information officer, who found that the app posed an “unacceptable level of risk” to privacy and security.
A government spokesperson said that the decision was taken due to concerns over TikTok’s use of personal information and links to the Chinese government.
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TikTok, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd, has previously faced criticism from governments and privacy regulators worldwide over its data collection practices. The app has been banned on US federal employees’ devices since last year, and the White House has given government agencies 30 days to remove it from their systems. European Commission employees will also be subject to a similar ban from 15 March. Several American universities have already banned the app from being used on their networks, while broader public bans have been implemented in India and several other Asian countries.
Canadian privacy regulators are currently investigating TikTok over concerns about user data. A recent survey by researchers at the Social Media Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University found that about a quarter of Canadian adults use the app. The Canadian government has stated that it is committed to keeping government information secure, and the ban on TikTok from government-issued devices will come into effect this week. The app will be removed from government-issued phones, and other devices will be blocked from downloading it in the future.
