US government employees can no long use the TikTok app on their officially issued smartphones. The popular short video sharing platform has officially been banned and staff can no longer install this app on their phones.
The Committee of House Administration or the COA has just informed its staff that the social media app is banned from being used on House issued mobile endpoints. As per the official emails, ” The Office of Cybersecurity has been deemed the TikTok mobile application to be a high risk to users due to a number of security risks.” Furthermore, anyone working in the agency will also need to remove the app immediately from their official handsets or risk being contacted by the COA Office of Cybersecurity.
The ban isn’t just limited to the COA but will also extend to other organizations and agencies within the US government. This news follows the recent spending bill that includes a more comprehensive ban that will prevent all federal issued devices from installing TikTok apps. For those unaware, the app is currently the most popular social media platform across many nations. However, it also faces criticism for being operated by ByteDance, which is a China based company and follows Chinese policy towards data management, privacy, and more.
Plus, it has also been accused on occasions for harvesting user data and other sensitive information as well. For this reason, the app still remains banned in India while various other governments, including the US have scrutinized and criticized the platform on multiple occasions.
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(Via)
