ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has fired four employees who improperly accessed the personal data of two journalists on the platform, the app’s spokeswoman, Brooke Oberwetter, confirmed to CNN on Thursday (22).
OThe data of the two journalists, who worked for the Financial Times and BuzzFeed, was accessed while ByteDance employees investigated possible leaks to the press, according to the company.
The employees involved, two in the United States and two in China, were fired following an investigation conducted on behalf of the company by an outside law firm, the CEOs of TikTok and ByteDance revealed to employees in two separate emails.
Personal data accessed from journalists’ accounts included IP addresses, according to the spokesperson. Discoveries can provide information about a user’s location.
“The individuals involved abused their authority to gain access to TikTok user data,” said TikTok CEO Shou Chew, according to an excerpt from the email reviewed by CNN 🇧🇷 “This is unacceptable”.
The disclosure could further inflame the problems TikTok is facing in the United States over national security concerns due to its ties to China.
US lawmakers have raised concerns about the security of user data and the ability of the company’s Chinese employees to access information about TikTok users in the country.
Criticism mounted earlier this year after a BuzzFeed News report said that some US user data was accessed repeatedly from China and quoted an official who allegedly said “everything is seen in China”.
TikTok, meanwhile, has confirmed that US users’ data can be accessed by some employees in China, but the company says a US security team decides who can access users’ data in the home country.
More than a dozen states, including Maryland, South Dakota and Texas, have in recent weeks announced bans on TikTok for state employees on government-issued devices, and a small but growing number of universities are also blocking access to TikTok. on school-owned devices or Wi-Fi networks.
Earlier this week, the Senate passed a bill to ban TikTok from all U.S. government devices.A trio of lawmakers introduced legislation intended to ban the operation of the Short Video app in the United States.
TikTok is currently involved in long-running negotiations with the US government on a potential deal to address national security concerns and allow the app to continue serving US customers.
It also said it has taken steps to isolate US user data from other parts of its business, including through a partnership with US-based Oracle.
“No matter what the cause or result was, this misguided investigation seriously violated the company’s Code of Conduct and is condemned by the company,” ByteDance CEO Rubo Liang said in Thursday’s email to employees.
“We simply cannot take integrity risks that undermine the trust of our users, employees and stakeholders.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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