TikTok Will Move All Its User Data To The US To Make Sure Nothing Leaks To The Chinese Government

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - On Friday, June 17, TikTok said it would move all of its user data in the United States to Oracle's servers in an effort to convince the US government that it would not share information on US citizens with the Chinese government.

This is done as a sense of TikTok's responsibility to take its community seriously, both from the way TikTok handles potentially harmful content and protects against unauthorized access to user data.

In his blog written by Albert Calamug as US Security Public Policy, TikTok said that Oracle has been its partner for more than a year to protect applications, systems, and user security in the US.

"We have changed the default storage location of US user data. Currently, 100% of US user traffic is being routed to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure," said Calamug, quoted Sunday, June 19.

However, the app from the company ByteDance confirms that it will still keep backup copies of its data in US and Singapore data centers. And as long as they move data to Oracle, TikTok hopes to be able to wipe US users' personal data from the center to Oracle servers completely.

TikTok has long stored US user data in its own data centers in the US and Singapore. This Virginia data center includes physical and logical security controls such as gated entry points, firewalls, and intrusion detection technology. While the data center in Singapore serves as a backup location for our users in the US.

Additionally, TikTok revealed that it is working closely with Oracle to develop a data management protocol that Oracle will audit and maintain to provide users with peace of mind.

This step was taken because previously, BuzzFeed News reported via TechCrunch, reported claims that US TikTok employees repeatedly consulted with their Chinese counterparts to understand how US user data flowed because they did not have permission or knowledge of how to access their own data.

"Everything is visible in China," the report said, citing an unnamed member of TikTok's Trust and Security department as saying at the September 2021 meeting.

In 2020, Donald Trump ordered ByteDance to sell TikTok out of concern it could expose Americans' personal information to Beijing.

Continuing on the move TikTok is also making operational changes in line with this work including a new department they have just created, with US-based leadership, to only manage TikTok user data in the US.

"Together, these changes will enforce additional employee protections, provide even more protection, and further minimize data transfers outside the US," Calamug added.