Britain is banning the use of the social network TikTok on government phones and electronic devices for security reasons, Duchy of Lancaster Chancellor and British Cabinet Secretary Oliver Dowden said Thursday.
“We are going to ban TikTok on government devices. We’re going to do that immediately,” Dowden said, speaking in the House of Commons.
“We’re moving to a system where government devices will only be able to access third-party apps on a pre-approved list. This system is already in place in many agencies, now it will become the rule for the entire government,” he added.
According to the minister, social networking apps, particularly TikTok, collect and store a large amount of information about users, including contacts, user content and geolocation information.
“On the government’s electronic devices, this information can be sensitive,” Dowden noted.
He stressed that there is a risk that apps could use government data.
Dowden said the government will impose “limited exceptions for the use of TikTok on government devices where it is required for operational reasons.”
He noted that the decision follows the U.S., Canada and the EU.
Late last year, the U.S. Congress approved a bill banning the use of the TikTok social network on federal government phones and electronic devices.
In February, the White House gave all federal agencies 30 days to remove TikTok from all government devices.
In turn, U.S. lawmakers plan to consider a bill that would allow the President of the United States to ban the application altogether.
A total of 13 U.S. states have already taken action against TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance, a company based in China.
According to U.S. authorities, the Chinese government could use the Chinese app to collect data from American users.
