City of Ottawa, Ontario government ban TikTok from employees' phones

The city of Ottawa follows the federal, Ontario and Quebec governments and the city of Ottawa in banning the social media app from city-issued mobile devices.

The city of Ottawa is banning TikTok from all corporate mobile devices and personal devices that access city managed applications.

The city of Ottawa follows the federal, Ontario and Quebec governments and the city of Gatineau in banning the social media app from city-issued mobile devices.

Effective Thursday, the city says it will restrict access to the TikTok application on all corporate mobile devices and personal devices.

In a memo to Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and councillors, Ottawa's Chief Information Officer Sandro Carlucci says the ban is "due to security concerns".

"This move follows similar decisions made by the Government of Canada and several provincial governments in response to the application’s collection of personal identifiable information and the potential for that information to be used for malicious purposes, including, but not limited to, sophisticated phishing, whale phishing, or social engineering campaigns."

Carlucci says the ban only applies to the mobile application version of TikTok installed on city-issued mobile devices, and staff can access the web version through an Internet browser to use the social media platform for business purposes.

Both Ottawa Public Health and the Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services department use TikTok.