Citing potential counterintelligence risks of using TikTok, the FCC commissioner today has asked the Apple and Google CEOs to remove the app from their respective app stores.
He shared a letter that stated that both the democratic and republic politicians are on the same page for this, thus wanting the respective companies to act on it. What Google and Apple do in response is yet to be seen.
Plea to Pull Down TikTok From App Stores
For the fact that it’s asking for unusual permissions and scooping unnecessary data, TikTok was already under a lot of screening from several security agencies. Now citing such concerns, the US FCC commissioner has asked Apple and Google to better remove the app from their respective app stores.
TikTok is not just another video app.
That’s the sheep’s clothing.It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing.
I’ve called on @Apple & @Google to remove TikTok from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices. pic.twitter.com/Le01fBpNjn
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) June 28, 2022
In a letter sent this week, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr stated a few security threats on using the TikTok platform. A report from BuzzFeed stated earlier that TikTok consumes a lot of users’ personal data, including their search and browsing histories, faceprints, voiceprints, keystroke patterns, and even clipboard data!
All of these raise concerns for the politicians (both republics and democrats), who stood on the same of removing TikTok from the US. Several companies like Wells Fargo and the government agencies like NSA have already instructed their employees not to use TikTok on official devices, citing security concerns.
And now, banning it altogether for general users may make a significant impact on the platform. TikTok has already lost India – a big market by userbase, and almost lost the US in Trump’s administration, who forced the platform to move US users’ data to local (now managed by Oracle) for good.
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