U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) has penned a letter to the chief execs of Apple and Google demanding that they ban Chinese-owned TikTok from their app stores on national security grounds, according to The New York Times (a subscription is required to read the entire article).
From the letter: TikTok’s vast influence and aggressive data collection pose a specific threat to US national security because of its parent company’s obligations under Chinese law. Article 7 of China’s National Intelligence Law decrees that ‘any organization or citizen shall support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work.’ Article 14 provides Chinese state security agencies the authority to demand cooperation from companies like ByteDance, while Articles 16 and 17 allow intelligence agents to access relevant materials and files and make use of its communication tools and facilities.
He adds that no company that’s subject to “Chinese Communist Party dictates should have the power to accumulate such extensive data on the American people or curate content to nearly a third of our population.” Bennet concludes that “It’s irresponsible for us to make it available the way we have, and I hope that Apple and Google will take this as an opportunity to lead in this debate.”
Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today
