This Monday (27), the Canadian government released an impact announcement: the popular app ICT Tac will be prohibited on mobile devices provided to your employees. The new measure, which will take effect on Tuesday (28), aims to protect the security and privacy of government data. The rationale is based on growing concern that the Chinese app could compromise sensitive and confidential information.

The President of the Treasury Board of Canada, Mona Fortier, justified the decision to ban TikTok on government devices based on the legal rules present in the application’s data use policy. In his words:On a mobile device, TikTok’s data collection methods provide considerable access to phone content“.

Fortier also pointed out that the measure follows the guidelines of “international partnersFrom Canada. Still, she said the government had no evidence that government information was compromised by the app.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also commented on the decision, saying it could be a first step towards further action or it could be enough.

“I suspect that as the government makes the important decision to inform all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their phones at work, many Canadians, from businesses to individuals, will be thinking about the safety of their own data and may make choices.said Trudeau. “I always advocate giving Canadians information so they can make the right decisions for themselves.“, he added.

Europe and the United States follow the same path

On Thursday (23), the European Commission issued an emailed statement to its employees, instructing them to remove the TikTok app from their personal devices, if they had work apps installed on their devices. According to the Commission, the measure was adopted to ensure data protection and increase the cybersecurity of the institution.

In the agency’s words: “In order to protect the data of the European Commission and to increase its cybersecurity, the board of directors has decided to suspend the TikTok application on professional and personal devices.“.

Already in the United States, local politicians have spoken out about banning TikTok. On December 13, 2022, Republican Senator Marco Rubio introduced a bipartisan bill to ban the Chinese app in the country.

According to Rubio, the social network spies on American citizens and manipulates elections. Additionally, the draft proposes that the White House take all necessary steps to prevent TikTok from accessing confidential state data.

Via: The Washington Post