2023-09-06 08:30:10
TikTok has opened its first European Data Center to ease fears about Chinese state surveillance.
The company said European users’ data is now migrating to servers in Dublin, as part of its response to data privacy concerns over the video-sharing app’s ties to China.
TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDancehowever, claims that it has never provided data to Beijing, although some people fear that the Chinese state could request access at any time.
A data center in Dublin is therefore now in operation and are planned another center in Ireland and one in the Hamar region of Norway.
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TikTok opens a Data Center in Dublin
The video-sharing giant is also allowing a European security firm to audit its cybersecurity and data protection controls.
TikTok called this project “Clover Project” (Project Clover), referring to the central role that Ireland is playing. The project runs parallel to the “Texas Project“, which included promising similar measures to U.S. lawmakers in 2020.
Earlier this year, TikTok faced a series of restrictions from some governments on its use for cybersecurity and privacy reasons.
A number of institutions have decided to ban the application from officials’ devices, including the UK Governmentthe European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the EU.
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TikTok will keep data in Europe
One of the main concerns of European security officials is the risk that the data that TikTok stores on its users is accessible to the Chinese state.
Authorities imposing bans had warned that email addresses, contacts and other communications could be accessed in Beijing as a result of the app’s presence on devices.
As part of its effort to alleviate these concerns, TikTok will now store European user data locally.
The data of TikTok’s more than 150 million European users will be transferred to one of three planned data centers.
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Independent verification by a third party
In an update on the project and in conjunction with the announcement of the first data center going live, TikTok’s vice president for public policy in Europe, Theo Bertramsaid it will also be used a third-party security company to independently monitor TikTok’s work at the data center.
Project Clover he instructed NCC Groupa global cybersecurity firm with offices across Europe, to review TikTok’s data controls and report any incidents.
Stephen Baileyglobal director of privacy at NCC Group, said he was proud that TikTok chose NCC as the third-party security provider for the project.
“Our objective control, monitoring and assurance means that platform users in Europe and the UK can have confidence in the enhanced data security standards that TikTok is establishing, which go beyond European regulatory requirements“, he has declared.
TikTok said NCC Group will identify and respond to any “suspicious or anomalous login attempts” and work to improve security.
Over the coming months, TikTok and NCC Group will engage with policymakers across Europe to explain how this system will work in practice.
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