Worried About User Data Sent To China, UK Considers Ban On TikTok On Government Phones

JAKARTA - The British government is reviewing whether a video application owned by a Chinese company, TikTok, should be banned on government calls. This was said by the British Secretary of Security, Tom Tugendhat on Tuesday, March 14.

TikTok is increasingly becoming the focus of attention due to concerns that user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, which could undermine Western security interests.

The United States, Canada, Belgium, and the European Commission are among countries that have banned applications, owned by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd, from government apparatus.

"Understanding exactly what challenges these app faces and what they ask for and how they achieve our lives are very important," Tugendhat told Sky News when asked if he wanted to see TikTok banned from British government calls.

"That's why I've asked the National Cybersecurity Center to research this. I haven't got an answer. So I'm not going to give you that answer. I can't," he said.

In a separate interview with Times Radio, Tugendhat said: "We need to make sure that our phone is not spyware, but a tool that is useful to us."

TikTok itself said that they would be disappointed with the ban.

"Similar decisions elsewhere are based on wrong concerns and appear to be driven by broader geopolitics, but we remain committed to working with the government to address any concerns," a TikTok spokesperson said. He added that they had begun to take steps to better protect European user data.

Last week, the White House supported legislation to provide new power administration to ban TikTok and other foreign-based technologies if they threaten national security.

On Monday, March 13, Britain called China a "challenging challenge" to world order in its renewal of security plans and international policies.

Asked during a visit to the United States last Monday whether the government was considering banning TikTok, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told ITV: "We saw what our allies were doing." This means a strong signal that Britain will also soon follow the rare

"We want to make sure that we protect the integrity and security of sensitive information. And we will always do it and take whatever steps are needed to make sure it happens," he added.