Chinese social media app TikTok continues its campaign to convince Western countries that it poses no threat to users’ privacy or cybersecurity.
Dubbed “Project Clover”, the campaign aims to convince European regulators that sufficient oversight exists domestically to ensure user data is not passed on to the Chinese government.
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A teenager taps the TikTok app on a smartphone. (Marijan Murat/Photo Alliance via Getty Images)
TikTok is currently setting up two European data centers — one in Ireland — ostensibly to separate the continent’s collected information from Chinese systems. The company also promises to hire a third party to oversee its European sector.
“Project Clover” mirrors the US-focused “Project Texas,” which promises to provide the federal government with some oversight of domestic data collection.
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The Project Texas proposal alone carries a price tag of more than $1 billion, Observer reported.
The app’s parent company, ByteDance LTD, is required by Chinese law to share its data with the Chinese Communist Party upon request.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives for the Second Plenary Session of the National People’s Congress with other Chinese leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 7, 2023. (GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)
By this obligation TikTok is banned for use on state electronic devices in several states across the country, as well as at the federal level, due to cybersecurity concerns.
On Wednesday, Congress voted to give President Biden the power to ban TikTok, while TikTok also said any account owned by a user under the age of 18 will have a standard daily screen time of 60 minutes.
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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre listens as National Economic Council Director Brian Deese speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the same day that the federal government is working on a solution for TikTok, although she would not say whether the social media service will be banned.
