March 16 (UPI) — Britain on Thursday banned TikTok from government devices, joining the United States, Canada and the European Commission, who have made similar moves over security concerns.
The British Cabinet office announced the ban and said it would strengthen its policy on the management of other third-party applications on government devices citing the “potentially sensitive nature of information” that they may hold.
“TikTok requires users to give permission for the app to access data stored on the device, which is then collected and stored by the company. Allowing such permissions gives the company access to a range of data on the device, including contacts, user content, and geolocation data,” the government said in a statement explaining the ban.
The ban does not apply to government employees’ personal devices but the Cabinet Office has advised individuals to “be aware of each social media platform’s data policies when considering downloading and using them.”
Olivia Dowden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said “restricting the use of TikTok on government devices is a prudent and proportionate step following advice from our cybersecurity experts.”
The decision came after Minister of State for Security Tom Tugendhat said Tuesday that he had asked the National Cyber Security Center to look into banning the popular social media app on government devices.
“We need to make sure our phones are not spyware. Understanding exactly what the challenges that these apps pose, what they are asking for and how they’re reaching into our lives is incredibly important,” he said.
TikTok has come under increased scrutiny after an investigation by BuzzFeed last year revealed that employees at its parent company ByteDance had repeatedly accessed personal data from U.S.-based individuals. An internal review that was commissioned by ByteDance revealed that employees had spied on journalists in the U.S.
The Biden Administration has been increasing pressure on TikTok’s Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the company and has reportedly threatened to implement a broader ban on the app.