Staff in China can Access European Union and UK User Data, says TikTok

TikTok has told its users that some of its staff in China have access to the data of accounts in the European Union and the United Kingdom. The privacy policy of TikTok was based on a demonstrated need to do their job. TikTok has come under scrutiny from authorities around the world, including the United States and the United Kingdom, over concerns that data can be passed to the Chinese government.

TikTok added that the policy applies to the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area, and Switzerland. Elaine Fox, TikTok’s head of privacy for Europe, said that a global team has helped them keep the user experience consistent, safe, and enjoyable.

However, TikTok currently stores European user data in countries including the United States and Singapore. Elaine Fox added that, in addition they also allow certain employees within their corporate group located in Canada, Japan, Israel, China, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and the US remote access to European user data of TikTok.

According to Elaine Fox, their efforts are centred on limiting the number of employees with access to the European user data, with decreasing data flows outside of the region, and also storing European user data locally.