There's this floating idea among most that European data laws are extremely strict and don't allow for abuse of user privacy. That's the general public opinion at least. Just ask around and you'll know.
Well, TikTok is now clearly spelling out to its European users that their data can be accessed by employees outside the continent, including by staff in China. This comes amid political and regulatory concerns about Chinese access to TikTok user data.
The Chinese-owned app has updated its privacy policy to confirm the same. The company explains that this is need in order to make sure the user experience on the platform is “consistent, enjoyable and safe”.
TikTok staff from countries such as Brazil, Canada, the US, Singapore, and Israel, where European user data is stored currently, can also access the information in question.
TikTok’s head of privacy in Europe, Elaine Fox, noted, “Based on a demonstrated need to do their job, subject to a series of robust security controls and approval protocols, and by way of methods that are recognized under the GDPR [the EU’s general data protection regulation], we allow certain employees within our corporate group located in Brazil, Canada, China, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States, remote access to TikTok European user data.”
Apart from the obvious, the data is necessary for serving recommendations, checking the performance of the app's algorithms, detecting bot accounts and more. TikTok had earlier acknowledged that some user information is accessed by employees of the parent company, ByteDance, in China.
TikTok's new privacy policy update will go live on December 2. It applies to the UK, the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
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