Senators say TikTok may have misled Congress on handling of US user data
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Forbes reported that TikTok has stored sensitive financial information of creators, including Social Security numbers and tax IDs, on servers in China.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - Two senators sent a letter to TikTok’s chief executive on Tuesday, accusing the company of making misleading claims to Congress around how it stores and handles American user data,
The letter, from Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn, focused on how sensitive data about American users may be stored in China staff there may have access to it.
The lawmakers said recent reports from The New York Times and Forbes raised questions about statements made during congressional testimony in March by TikTok’s CEO Chew Shou Zi,
TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
“We are deeply troubled by TikTok’s recurring pattern of providing misleading, inaccurate or false information to Congress and its users in the United States, including in response to us during oversight hearings and letters,” the senators wrote.
TikTok has been working for years to convince the US government that it can separate its US operations and wall off American user data, amid concerns that the company could provide that information to Chinese authorities.
“We are reviewing the letter,” said Mr Alex Haurek, a spokesman for TikTok. “We remain confident in the accuracy of our testimony and responses to Congress.”
Forbes reported in May that TikTok has stored the sensitive financial information of creators, including Social Security numbers and tax IDs, on servers in China, where employees there can have access to them.
TikTok uses internal tools and databases from ByteDance to manage payments to creators who earn money via the app, said Forbes.
The Times reported earlier in the month that American user data, including driving licences and potentially illegal content such as child sexual abuse materials, was shared at TikTok and ByteDance through an internal messaging and collaboration tool called Lark.
The information was often available in Lark “groups” – chatrooms of employees – with thousands of members, alarming some workers because ByteDance workers in China and elsewhere could easily see the material.
The Times learnt that Lark data was stored on servers in China as at late 2022. At the time, TikTok did not respond to questions about whether Lark data is currently stored in China. NYTIMES
