The European Commission prohibits their employees from putting TikTok on their work phones. There would be security concerns about the application, which means that the cybersecurity of as many as 30,000 civil servants is at stake. Security companies are also calling on companies to warn their staff about these risks: data may disappear to China.
High tech specialist Paul Verhagen of the The Hague Center for Strategic Studies confirms the major concerns surrounding the cyber security of the popular app. ‘I don’t know whether it is wise or everyone should remove it, but there are serious concerns about safety,’ says Verhagen. “For example, is TikTok a vector for Chinese malware? In addition, there is a risk in the field of privacy and espionage.’
Businesses
According to Verhagen, it is also quite possible that data from employees of SMEs will go to China, although there are few clear indications for this. ‘But the concern is indeed with privacy. Trade secrets can be leaked, and the Chinese have been looking for ways to bring in Western technology for some time now.’
It is not yet publicly known whether the Chinese have already succeeded in obtaining data from the European Commission via TikTok, although Verhagen dares to state that the intelligence services may know more. ‘I do not know.’
USA
While the subject has been alive for a while in the United States, it only now seems to be blowing over to Europe. But that is not surprising, Verhagen argues. “It comes from geopolitics,” he says. “Because the United States has decided that China is their strategic rival, and they want to hold back when it comes to technology.”
He emphasizes that a year or two ago, the Americans wanted TikTok to sell their algorithm to an American company if they wanted to continue operating in the United States. ‘You also see that the House of Representatives is also thinking about it, the United Kingdom, you name it. And then it’s not just about banning TikTok for companies, but also for citizens.
