Canadian authorities have banned the use of the TikTok app on all government-owned mobile devices. According to Interfax, citing a statement from the secretariat of the Canadian Treasury Board, the existing installations of the application will be removed.
“After reviewing TikTok, Canada’s Chief Information Officer determined that it posed an unacceptable level of privacy and security risk,” the statement said.
The ban will take effect on Tuesday, February 28.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggests that “as the government takes the important step of telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones, many Canadians, from businesses to individuals, will be thinking about the security of their own data… „.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the TikTok app noted, “The Canadian government only made the decision to block TikTok on government-issued devices without citing any specific security concerns or contacting us with questions, only after similar bans were implemented in the EU and the US.”
In his opinion, this decision only “prevents officials from reaching out to the public on a platform loved by millions of Canadians.”
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that the US administration has given all federal agencies 30 days to remove TikTok from all government devices.
The White House Office of Management and Budget called the guidance, released on Monday, “an important step forward in addressing app-related risks for sensitive government data.”
It is noted that some ministries, including the Department of Defense and Homeland Security, have already introduced restrictions.
Late last year, the U.S. Congress approved a bill to ban TikTok from federal government phones and electronic devices.
In turn, US lawmakers plan to consider a bill that would allow the US president to completely ban TikTok in the country.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee will discuss the proposal on Tuesday afternoon, following a separately scheduled hearing on combating Chinese “aggression” in the technology and economic sectors, The Hill reports.
Overall, thirteen US states have already taken action against TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance.
According to the US authorities, the TikTok application may be used by the Chinese government to collect data from US users.
Last week, the European Commission (EC) announced its decision to suspend the use of the TikTok app on its corporate devices and personal devices registered with the commission’s mobile device service as a cybersecurity measure.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
