TikTok has said it plans to build a $500m (£375m) data centre in Ireland. It will store videos, messages and other data generated by European users from the short-form video-sharing app. Until now all of its users’ records were stored in the US, with a back-up copy held in Singapore.
The announcement comes at a time when President Trump has threatened to ban the app in the US on the grounds its Chinese ownership makes it a national security risk. TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company Bytedance denies the charge. However, it is in talks to sell its US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand operations to Microsoft.
Like many social media apps, TikTok gathers a wide range of information about its users. Its privacy statement says this covers:
- users’ ages, passwords, email addresses and phone numbers
- phone numbers in their address books and social network contacts
- geo-location logs including GPS coordinates and internet protocol (IP) addresses
details about their devices including the operating system used, handset model and other unique identifiers - comments, photos and videos they have posted or at least part-prepared
- browsing and search histories within the app
- web browsing data that takes place outside the app and is gathered via cookies and other technologies
- payment information
- data obtained from third-party services and publicly available sources
- keystroke patterns and screen tap rhythms exhibited while using a computer and/or smartphone that are particular to each user
The data is collected to target advertisements, and help tailor its powerful algorithm. But critics say that the Chinese Communist Party could demand access under its National Intelligence Law. While the Chinese version of the app, Douyin, holds its records within mainland China, TikTok says it keeps all its user data separate and does not give the Chinese government access.
Given the Trump administration’s recent actions, the existing company is unlikely to carry on storing the information within the US. But the firm said that the decision to set up a European centre was something it had been thinking about “for a long time”. “It’s a significant investment,” Theo Bertram, the app’s director of public policy for Europe, told the BBC.”It’s a symbol of our long-term commitment to Europe, and I think that’s an important message for our users and our creators at this time.”
Source: BCC
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