A former employee of the department Trust and Safety on TikTok met with members of US Congress, going so far as to say that ByteDance, the parent company of the social network, is lying about allegations of Chinese espionage. The Chinese company, however, denies the allegations and assures its complete availability to collaborate. Nonetheless, the discussion on social media is raging in the US.
TikTok, ex-employee rekindles doubts about Chinese espionage
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The former TikTok staffer met with Congress, which has long expressed concerns about deficiencies in the company’s plan to protect US users’ data. But she also spoke to the Washington Post, explaining to the press why he fears the company is lying about the spying allegations.
The former employee worked for six months until early 2022. And before Congress he said the data of TikTok’s more than 100 million US users could be accessible to China-based employees of its parent company ByteDance.
An accusation that, if verified, could suggest an act of espionage by the Chinese through TikTok towards the USA. Something that would not only be seen as a problem for the company. But even direct aggression could result: the issue becomes geopolitical.
A very serious accusation
TikTok is introducing new security rules to block access to US user data after the company fired employees who tracked American journalists. This had led several institutions and universities to block access to the TikTok network. More recently, the European Parliament also banned employees from downloading the app. And the situation in America continues to escalate.
TikTok and spying allegations – Project Texas notwithstanding
The allegations of the former employee come despite TikTok’s $1.5 billion restructuring plan, known as Project Texas. The company presented it as a solution to mitigate the risk of data theft or misuse by the Chinese government. Using American servers to process American data – something that TikTok would also like to replicate in Europe with Project Clover.
This move comes as a reassurance, not a real response to allegations of spying on TikTok. Indeed, the US authorities they have yet to provide evidence that the Chinese government has access to TikTo’s data or codek. TikTok and parent company ByteDance have negotiated with the Board of Trustees foreign investments in the United States on security and privacy requirements. Although the proposal still needs to be approved.
The ex-employee’s statements and the company’s responses
While meeting with members of Congress, the former TikTok employee preferred to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. And he has expressed concerns about it to the imperfection of the company’s plan to protect the data of US users.
According to the former employee, Project Texas is not extensive enough and one would be needed “complete reengineering” of TikTok to ensure a leak-proof deal. The former employee provided one piece of code which, in his opinion, proved that TikTok could connect with the systems of Toutiao, a Chinese news app operated by ByteDance. This, according to him, could allow interference in the sending of US data.
TikTok officials said the former employee “would not be aware of the current state of Project Texas and the many significant milestones the initiative has achieved over the past year.”
Furthermore, they argued that his accusation regarding Toutiao was unfounded and that the shared code snippet did not indicate any correlation between the two apps. Finally, they ensured that critical code and user data were passed on servers managed by Oracle, an American company.
American politics and TikTok’s Chinese espionage allegations
The former employee’s presence heightens Washington’s attention to the youth-loving app, which is continuing to be successful around the world. The TikTok CEO Hearing, Shou Zi Chewlater this month in Congress probably will be about Project Texas and possible Chinese influence on the app.
But the recent statements ignite even more an already very tense climate. The former employee said he has met with Senators’ staff Charles E. Grassley (Republican of Iowa) e Mark R. Warner (Democrat of Virginia), both very active on TikTok.
Senator Warner and a bipartisan group of senators on Tuesday introduced a bill that would give the Commerce Department empowered to ban TikTok and other foreign apps based on a risk assessment. Another bill advanced by the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week it would allow President Biden to ban TikTok outright.
The White House said Wednesday it supported Warner’s bill, but also said it would wait for the outcome of the CFIUS negotiations (the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States of America). More than two dozen states have already banned TikTok on government-owned devices. But many think a nationwide ban would violate First Amendment protections on free speech.
The proposals and accusations of the former employee
The former employee heard by Congress argues that a national ban is not needed to fix TikTok’s technical problems. Rather, look for feasible solutions that exceed Project Texas protocols. He said he’s been trying to fix the data privacy issues internally. But to be was fired after raising his concerns. The firing came after the employee accused TikTok’s CEO in a letter of “willfully lying” to American officials.
The former employee requested one rapid internal investigation and its reinstatement. ByteDance’s head of global legal compliance acknowledged the letter of concerns and said they would look into them with opportunity. But nothing more happened.
The former employee also reported on have not yet filed an official whistleblower complaint with the SEC. So his claims have not been confirmed by an official investigation.
But the allegations are very serious: he said that Chinese engineers could access American data “with just one click”.
The possible solutions
At this point, there appears to be no assurances that ByteDance can give that the US Government is willing to listen to. Project Texas would see all US data kept on servers on US soil, with the Oracle company analyzing the code to assess any problems. But there are both supporters and skeptics of this proposal.
If the Texas project were to be rejected, some members of Congress argued that the only solution would be force ByteDance to sell TikTok to an American buyer. This idea, launched for the first time by the Trump administration, it could hardly pass without an intervention by Beijing, which would make the climate between the two most powerful nations in the world even more bitter.
But American doubts about Chinese spying on TikTok data remain. Government authorities in China are empowered to require technology companies to provide user data to help national intelligence work. TikTok said that US data would not be subject to Chinese law as stored on servers in the United States and Singapore.
The question of freedom of speech also remains: asking for the closure of such a popular social network would not have a good outcome with public opinion. Especially since, at the moment, the United States has no direct evidence of TikTok’s alleged bad faith.
The next few weeks could therefore become decisive. Not only for those who love spending time on TikTok, but also from a geopolitical perspective.
Source
The Washington Post