TikTok Ban on Government Devices Reversed, Mobile Security Expert Weighs In
The Department of Justice (DOJ) decided last month that TikTok was no longer to be banned from government devices.
This decision follows a few months after a group of American investors, including software organization Oracle, took over United States operations of the app. Due to this shift, the DOJ determined the app no longer exists within the set parameters that would require a government ban, as established by the No TikTok on Government Devices Act.
That law banned versions of the app developed or offered by ByteDance, a Beijing-based organization. As the U.S. app is now operated independently of ByteDance, the prohibition no longer applies. However, ByteDance still retains nearly 20% of the joint U.S. venture.
Hypori CSO and mobile security expert Matt Stern comments, “Despite the fact that TikTok now has a U.S. entity, its privacy policy is still very invasive in terms of what the platform automatically collects and how that information can be used. For government agencies, that should remain a serious security and OPSEC concern. Any application that collects significant amounts of device, location, and user data introduces additional exposure, and agencies should be extremely cautious about allowing that risk onto endpoints used for government work.
“TikTok is fundamentally an information-sharing platform, and that is difficult to reconcile with the principles of operational security. A change in the company’s legal status does not eliminate the underlying security concerns associated with the application. TikTok is not compatible with secure government communications and should not be used on government devices.”
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