TikTok has been effectively banned on official Government devices following security concerns.
As previously reported by the Irish Mirror, assessments were being carried out into the safety of the app after it was removed from official devices in other jurisdictions. A Government spokesperson confirmed the National Cyber Security Centre had conducted a “technical assessment”.
They added: “Its advice is that TikTok should not be installed or used on official public sector devices, save in exceptional cases where there is a business need.
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“This is consistent with the position taken by the European Commission.” The US, UK and EU institutions have all issued similar advice regarding the use of the app on official devices.
It follows significant data protection concerns about it. There have also been concerns about the relationship between TikTok and the Chinese state.
The Irish Mirror understands that in instances where the app has already been installed on official devices, it must be removed.
Richard Brown, director of the NCSC, told RTE: “It stores very large amounts of user data, including sensitive personal data. It is on the very high end, if not the highest end, in terms of the amount of user data it collects.
"Its ownership structure is relatively unusual and given the Chinese headquarters, and given the nature of Chinese intelligence gathering laws, that means that TikTok and its employees are subject to Chinese law and the application of a number of different measures to the company.
“There are circumstances where user data for the European Union has been made available to engineers in China.”
Speaking in Cork, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed the news but said the decision can be reversed. He added: “The National Cyber Security Centre, they’re the experts.
“We asked them to consider this matter based on evidence and they’ve now recommended that Tiktok shouldn’t be used on public sector devices unless there’s a particular business case for doing so. That is the advice now that we’re issuing today to the wider public sector.”
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