Steve de Eyre, director of public policy and government affairs at TikTok Canada, stressed at a House of Commons committee meeting that the video-sharing app is not controlled by the Chinese government.

Western governments have expressed concerns that Beijing-based ByteDance’s popular platform could leak sensitive data into the hands of the Chinese government or be used as a disinformation tool.

Under Chinese law, the government can order companies to help it collect information.

When NDP MP Matthew Green asked a question about the law, another TikTok executive brushed it aside.

“I’m not an expert on Chinese law,” said David Lieber, head of public privacy policy for the Americas.

The federal government banned TikTok from government-owned devices in February after its chief information officer revealed the app posed an “unacceptable” level of privacy and security risk.

Provinces then followed suit and banned TikTok from government devices, which de Eyre says is unfair.

He added that he has since contacted the Treasury and the chief information officer to better understand the government’s position.

“We work in the same way as other platforms. I will say that our policy – and we have made this public – is that it is probably not necessary to have social media apps or entertainment or gaming apps on an employee’s device. But these rules must apply equally to all platforms,” he told the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Protection of Personal Data and Ethics.

Growing fears

Federal and state data protection authorities have also investigated whether TikTok complies with data protection laws.

More governments, including the United States, have banned the popular video-sharing app amid growing cybersecurity concerns.

In Australia, the app was banned from government devices after the country’s attorney general received advice from intelligence and security agencies.

The European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union have also imposed bans on their devices and advised their employees to remove the TikTok app from their personal devices.

Mr. Lieber clarified that TikTok takes measures to protect Canadian data by storing it on servers in the United States, Malaysia and Singapore.

He said the Chinese government never requested the Canadians’ data, but acknowledged that “it would be irresponsible for me or any other tech company employee to provide categorical guarantees about what governments are capable of in terms of their ability to conduct activities.” or are incompetent.”, including hacking, on their own initiative.

A September 2022 intelligence memorandum released under the Freedom of Information Act has shed new light on the government’s concerns about TikTok.

The Privy Council Office Intelligence Assessment Secretariat memo said TikTok is the first Chinese app to reach more than one billion users outside of China and “creates a ubiquitous and integrated platform for aggregation and influence on a global scale that benefits Beijing.” could.”

“Despite assurances, it is becoming increasingly clear that China can access TikTok data,” says the document, which is based on both open sources and classified information.

In a first-of-its-kind report on Chinese disinformation released last month, the US State Department alleged that ByteDance sought to block potential critics of Beijing, including outside China, from using its platforms.

The report said that at the end of 2020, the US government received information that ByteDance “maintains a regularly updated internal list” of people who are denied or prohibited from accessing its platforms, including TikTok Reasons such as defending the independence of the Uyghurs”.

A TikTok spokesperson, who did not give a name, said Wednesday that “such lists do not exist for TikTok.”

With information from Associated Press.