Media ININ Economy We Trust
The Canadian government has banned TikTok from all of its phones and devices, citing data protection concerns.
And the TikTok application, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been under the microscope of the West for months due to concerns about the extent of Beijing’s access to user data.
And a government statement stated that, as of Tuesday, “the TikTok application will be removed from mobile devices granted by the government, and users of these devices will also be prevented from downloading the application in the future.”
The government added that Canada’s chief communications officer “has concluded that the app presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.”
Although there is no evidence of government data breaches associated with the app, the Canadian government has warned that “TikTok’s data collection methods allow widespread access to the contents of the phone.”
Last week, the European Commission banned the application on its devices, after similar steps in the United States.
A TikTok spokesperson was surprised by the Canadian decision to ban the app, saying it was taken “without mentioning any specific security concerns” or consulting with the company.
Relations between China and Canada have deteriorated sharply in recent years, especially after Ottawa arrested, at the request of the US judiciary, a senior official in Huawei in 2018, and China responded to the move by arresting two Canadian citizens.
Last week, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner opened an investigation into TikTok over the collection and use of users’ personal information.
