TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee recently that the company is not committed to stopping the transfer of US data to China.
Metro reports that TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday about a Chinese short video app. The committee also questioned other tech giants, including senior executives at Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Apple CEO Tim Cook was also seen in the building but did not appear before the committee.
Shuzi Chu, CEO of TikTok Inc. Photographer: Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg
Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
When asked about TikTok’s corporate structure, Pappas declined to promise to cut off “all data and metadata flows to China.”
Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) asked Pappas, “Is TikTok committed to shutting down all data and data flows to China, Chinese TikTok employees, ByteDance employees, or any other party in China who may have access to information? US users?
Pappas refused to honor the request, but promised that the outcome of his negotiations with the US government would “met all national security considerations”. Pappas assured lawmakers that TikTok does not operate in a communist country, although it has an office in China.
However, China’s national security law requires all companies located there to cooperate with data requests from the government. This led to TikTok being put under question in the US after the US communications regulator called on Apple and Google to ban the app on “national security” grounds. This is because of the possibility that US user data will be shared with the Chinese government and used to undermine US interests.
Recent reports have confirmed that employees in China can access personal data of American users.
As Breitbart News reported in July:
Chinese viral video app TikTok has revealed that some of the company’s China-based employees have access to the personal information of US users. The company’s approval came in a letter to nine U.S. senators accusing TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance Ltd. Spying on US citizens.
TikTok influencers Florin Witan (left) and Alessia Lanza shoot a video (Photo: MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP) (Photo: MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)
Senators asked TikTok whether Chinese employees had access to US user data, what role employees played in developing TikTok’s algorithm, and whether any of this information was shared with the Chinese government.
Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, said in a June 30 letter that Chinese employees who have passed a series of internal security protocols will have access to some of TikTok’s information, including public videos and comments, in the US. Chu said none of this information has been shared with the Chinese government and is subject to “strict cybersecurity controls.”
Pappas limited himself to the company’s official statement that its Chinese employees had access to user data in the US, but reiterated that TikTok “under no circumstances … will give this data to China”. However, Pappas did not specify whether ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, will store US user data from the Chinese government.
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Source: Breitbart
