TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, has assured U.S. lawmakers that the video app has never and will never share U.S. user data with the Chinese government, as concerns have grown around the security of U.S. user data. Chew stated that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is not controlled by any government or state entity, and he will say to the committee that it is not an agent of China or any other country. The app has over 150 million American users, and Chew has suggested that there is an alternative to a ban. TikTok has spent over $1.5 billion on data security efforts under “Project Texas.” Chew has said that all protected U.S. data will be under the protection of U.S. law and under the control of the U.S.-led security team, and there will be no way for the Chinese government to access it or compel access to it. In other news, Chew has said that the number of people who use the app monthly in the United States has grown to more than 150 million from 100 million last year, and the average TikTok user in the US is an adult well past college age.
TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, has confirmed that the Chinese-owned video app has never and will never share U.S. user data with the Chinese government, according to testimony he will provide to U.S. lawmakers. The app has over 150 million American users, and concerns have been growing around the security of U.S. user data. Chew has said that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is not controlled by any government or state entity, and he will state unequivocally that it is not an agent of China or any other country.
TikTok has come under fire from critics who believe that U.S. user data could be passed on to the Chinese government. As a result, there have been growing calls to ban the app by U.S. lawmakers. However, Chew has suggested that there is an alternative to a ban, stating that “bans are only appropriate when there are no alternatives.” TikTok has spent over $1.5 billion on data security efforts under “Project Texas.”
The company has begun deleting U.S. user-protected data in data centers in Virginia and Singapore and is routing new U.S. data to the Oracle Cloud. This process is expected to be completed later this year, according to Chew’s testimony. He has also stated that “all protected U.S. data will be under the protection of U.S. law and under the control of the U.S.-led security team. Under this structure, there is no way for the Chinese government to access it or compel access to it.”
ByteDance is owned by global institutional investors, including Blackrock, General Atlantic, and Sequoia, and its founders and employees, including thousands of Americans.
According to TikTok, the number of people who use the app monthly in the United States has grown to more than 150 million from 100 million last year. The average TikTok user in the US is an adult well past college age, according to Chew’s testimony, who also added that although US users represent only 10% of the global community, their voice accounts for 25% of the total views worldwide. Current versions of the app do not collect precise or approximate GPS information from US users, Chew said.
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