Canada Bans TikTok on Government Phones, Citing 'Unacceptable Level of Risk'

pcmag.com:

Another one bites the dust: Canada on Monday announced a ban on the use of TikTok on government mobile devices.

Starting today, the popular app will be removed from government-issued handsets and users will be blocked from downloading it again.

"The Government of Canada is committed to keeping government information secure," Treasury Board President Mona Fortier said in a statement(Opens in a new window). "Following a review of TikTok, the Chief Information Officer of Canada determined that it presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security."

Fortier says the move is "a precaution, particularly given concerns about the legal regime that governs the information collected from mobile devices, and is in line with the approach of our international partners."

TikTok tells(Opens in a new window) The Washington Post the move is "curious" and lacks "any specific security concern."

Last week, the European Commission and Council of the EU took a similar approach, telling a combined workforce of about 35,100 employees to remove TikTok from official handsets, as well as personal phones with access to EU Council services.

The US government, meanwhile, has been locked in years-long battle with the social network, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance. Several states and federal agencies prohibited the app from government-issued devices, citing "possible spying" by China.

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