Erich Andersen, the chief lawyer for TikTok, has argued that despite heightened scrutiny from Washington that could result in a possible ban, China cannot obtain American user data in the social media platform's new plan.
In a recent interview with AP at a cybersecurity conference in Sausalito, California, Andersen defended the platform's strategy to protect American user data from China.
The TikTok logo is displayed on signage outside TikTok social media app company offices in Culver City, California, on March 16, 2023. - China urged the United States to stop "unreasonably suppressing" TikTok on March 16, 2023, after Washington gave the popular video-sharing app an ultimatum to part ways with its Chinese owners or face a nationwide ban.
TikTok's Fundamental Strategy
According to the lawyer, the fundamental strategy they are using is to make it physically difficult for any government, including the Chinese government, to access user data in the US.
The parent firm of TikTok in China, ByteDance, will keep working on the Instagram and Pinterest-like Lemon8 app.
Andersen reaffirmed that the business will abide by US law and make sure it treats the new app fairly while it is still in the development stage. In Japan and other nations' app stores, Lemon8 has been released, and it may be downloaded in the US.
Due to worries that it might provide user data to the Chinese government or disseminate propaganda and false material in favor of Beijing, TikTok is the subject of intense scrutiny in many countries, particularly in the West.
ByteDance may be compelled to provide user data to Beijing under a 2017 law requiring businesses to collaborate with the government for concerns impacting China's national security, according to the FBI, CIA, and other federal agencies.
Employees in the US would control access to US data through TikTok US Data Security, an independent organization from ByteDance. Andersen asserted that TikTok is moving through with the project despite criticism from some lawmakers.
"We're investing in a system where people don't have to believe the Chinese government and they don't have to believe us," Andersen said in an interview with AP.
Deleting US Data Soon
According to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, the company began erasing all historical US user data from non-Oracle servers in March and anticipates finishing the process this year.
In a recent congressional hearing, Chew claimed that moving the data to Oracle would keep it out of China's hands, but he also admitted that workers there might still have access to it before the process is finished.
According to TikTok, it has never been asked to provide any form of data and will not even if requested.
TikTok has already been prohibited from government-owned devices in the US, UK, EU, and other countries. The Biden administration is apparently threatening to do the same unless the app's Chinese owners sell their shares in the business.
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