UK Government Bans TikTok on Government Phones Amid Data Security Concerns

The UK government is expected to announce today that TikTok will be banned on government phones due to concerns about the safety of sensitive data.

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Oliver Dowden, is set to make the announcement in a statement this afternoon.

ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, is headquartered in China, and there are worries that Chinese authorities could potentially access users’ data.

Additionally, officials and members of the government are expected to be advised against keeping TikTok on their personal devices due to safety risks identified by intelligence services.

This move follows similar actions taken by the US, EU, and Canada to prohibit officials from using the app on their work devices.

The UK government’s decision to ban TikTok on government phones comes after it declared that China poses a significant challenge.

The US government has also been taking steps to limit TikTok’s reach.

Recently, the Biden administration threatened to ban TikTok in the US unless its Chinese owner sells its shares in the app.

Republicans have raised concerns about the app’s potential threat to national security, as it can harvest data from US citizens.

The Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States has demanded that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, sell its stake in the US version of the app.

This marks the first time the US administration has explicitly threatened to ban the app, indicating a shift in its attitude towards TikTok.

However, it is still unclear whether federal officials have given ByteDance a deadline to sell.