TikTok banned on U.S. government devices, and the U.S. is not alone. Here's where the app is restricted.
CBSN
Hong Kong — The U.S. and Canada both issued orders this week banning the use of TikTok on government-issued mobile devices amid growing privacy and cybersecurity concerns about the Chinese-owned video-sharing app. TikTok, owned by the larger tech company Bytedance, has long maintained that it does not and will not share data with the Chinese government and that its data is not held in China.
The company also disputes accusations that it collects more user data than other social media companies and insists that it's run independently. But many countries remain cautious, and Shawn Henry, chief security officer for the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, told "CBS Mornings" those concerns are "absolutely valid."
"China wants to be the No. 1 superpower in the world and they have been targeting U.S. technology, U.S. personal information. They've been doing electronic espionage for several decades now," Henry said, describing the hugely popular app as "another opportunity for them [China] to gain access to people's information, to see what people are thinking about, to potentially influence the way people think" through deliberate misinformation.