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TikTokhas been banned from UK Government phones after a security review.

Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden announced the move on Thursday, saying it would take effect immediately.

The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, had been under pressure from senior MPs to follow the US and the EU in barring the video-sharing app from official devices.

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance, said it was disappointed with the decision and said bans were based on fundamental misconceptions and driven by wider geopolitics.

Heres what you need to know about TikToks safety, and why the Government has decided to ban it.

The concerns around TikToks safety are centred around is being owned by ByteDance.

As a company based in China, ByteDance is required to share user data with the authorities if requested.

TikTok has often insisted it is not sharing data with the Chinese government, but it is unclear how it would be able to resist if requested to do so.

The apps data sharing has been the subject of a number of investigations. A BuzzFeed report from June 2022, based on leaked recordings of internal TikTok meetings, told how China-based ByteDance employees accessed non-public data about US TikTok users.

A TikTok spokesperson responded by saying the company had talked openly about its attempts to limit employees access to US user data, and BuzzFeeds report showed TikTok was doing what it said it was going to.

TikTok harvests a significant amount of data from its users in order to optimise their For You pages with its algorithm.

As soon as you start using TikTok, the company starts building a profile about you, including everything from your hobbies to your political leanings.

As internet security company NordVPN explains, there are two main issues people may have with this.

First is a first principles issue. Should a corporation have that kind of insight into your personal life? Are you comfortable with TikTok assessing and deducing (often with remarkable accuracy) your sexuality, political leanings, or health conditions? it says.

The second problem is a more practical one. When large corporations gather huge quantities of data about their users, it only takes one data breach for that information to fall into the wrong hands. Hackers are eager to steal valuable data from online businesses, and theres no guarantee that social media giants are actually capable of keeping your private details safe.

Ultimately, it is up to individual users to decide how comfortable they are sharing their data with companies like TikTok, and to understand the potential risks around it.

Mr Dowden said banning TikTok from Government phones would be good cyber hygiene amid a risk to sensitive Government data.

Ministers and officials are still able to use the app on their personal devices.

He said it was a prudent and proportionate step following advice from our cyber security experts as he noted risks around how sensitive information can be accessed by TikTok.

The security of sensitive Government information must come first, so today we are banning this app on Government devices. The use of other data-extracting apps will be kept under review, the minister said.

But he said there will be limited exemptions on some Government devices made on a case by case basis where the video-sharing app is required for work purposes.

Downing Street said there was no plan to delete the No 10 account.

The Cabinet Office said the ban was being imposed because TikTok users are required to hand over data including contacts, user content and geolocation data.

Former Conservative party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith was among those demanding that ministers and senior civil servants should be told to remove TikTok from their personal phones as well.

Private phones are used for communications and I honestly dont believe that whatever the complaints are, that the reality is that these private phones will never be used for Government business, he told the House of Commons.

They will be, they are, and there is no way of stopping that to some degree.

Nadine Dorries, who frequently posted on TikTok while serving as Boris Johnsons culture secretary, tweeted: My phone is personal. Today I removed TikTok and I think all MPs should do likewise.

But Grant Shapps, the Energy Security Secretary, made clear he will continue to use it on his personal phone while taking security precautions.

Posting on the app, he said: Ive never used TikTok on Government devices and can hereby confirm I will NOT be leaving TikTok anytime soon!

The rest is here:
If TikTok is safe and why it has been banned from UK Government ... - inews