The French government announced that it would ban the installation of all recreational applications on government-issued devices. Applications like TikTok, Netflix, and Netflix were not seen delivering sufficient levels of cybersecurity and data protection for their users.

(Photo : LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)
This photo taken on November 21, 2019, shows the logo of the social media video sharing app Tiktok displayed on a tablet screen in Paris.

Banning 'Recreational' Apps

Several countries have already banned TikTok from government-owned devices due to security reasons. But France is taking this restriction a step further as the French government is banning recreational applications from government employees' devices. 

Engadget reported the ban might include applications like TikTok, Twitter, Netflix, and even Candy Crush. These apps reportedly failed to deliver sufficient levels of cybersecurity and data protection that will put government employees at risk. 

According to the Office of Public Minister Stanislas Guerni, "After an analysis of the challenges, notably for security, the government has decided to forbid the downloading and installation of recreational apps on the work phones provided to state employees with immediate effect."

As of the moment, the government has not provided an exact list of applications that will be included in the ban. Guerini stated that it is possible for some applications to be exempted from these restrictions if there will be necessary communication between the government and the platform.

This will affect 2.5 million civil servants and they will be given a month to either delete the said applications or refer to their department if they or the application are included in the exception, namely for communication departments of the country that need access to the potentially banned applications. 

Guerini's office said that the penalties for violating these restrictions can be decided at the "managerial level" of every platform. While this will affect more than 2 million employees of the government, Deadline reported that the approach does not affect their personal devices. 

Also Read: French Data Protection Watchdog Issues Warning on the Use of Google Analytics--Why it's Illegal?

TikTok Ban

In the past few months, Euro News reported that lawmakers from the United States federal government, European countries, Canadian states, and the United Kingdom have stepped up their efforts to restrict access to the social media platform TikTok, owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance. 

This comes after concerns increase over the company's ties to China, privacy, and cyber security. Due to this, several countries implemented a ban on the usage of TikTok on government devices, which includes countries like the Netherlands, Norway, and now France.  

Ever since this issue became rampant to the press and authorities, TikTok has been denying this allegation of collaborating with the Chinese government. 

In testimony with the House committee yesterday, Chief Executive officer Shou Chew stated that ByteDance was forming an alliance with China. He also cleared that the user data of the Americans would not be accessible to staff in other countries. 

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