US user data is safe, TikTok CEO tells senators, amid fresh scrutiny over China tech giant’s access
- ‘We aim to remove any doubt’ about information security, says Shou Zi Chew in letter to Republican senators after report ByteDance staff have frequent access
- Popular video app’s top official acknowledges data access exists for staff based outside US while noting present efforts with Washington to restrict it
TikTok’s CEO has written to nine Republican senators to outline new efforts by the popular video app to protect US user data, amid renewed congressional scrutiny of access to that information by employees of its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
“We know we are among the most scrutinised platforms from a security standpoint, and we aim to remove any doubt about the security of US user data,” Shou Zi Chew wrote in the letter, which was dated Thursday and obtained by The New York Times.
Steps taken by the company to address data security concerns included an initiative called “Project Texas”, a series of protocols to restrict data access being created in coordination with the US government, Chew wrote.
TikTok had not yet publicised the effort due to the confidentiality of its engagement with the US government, “but circumstances now require that we share some of that information publicly”, wrote Chew.
