TikTok freezes consultant hiring for U.S. security deal as opposition mounts
The Hindu
TikTok has paused its hiring for consultants to help the company implement a possible security agreement with the U.S., due to opposition from American government officials
TikTok has put on hold a hiring process for consultants that would help it implement a potential security agreement with the United States, two people familiar with the matter said, as opposition to such a deal among U.S. officials grows.
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The short-video app, which is owned by Chinese technology conglomerate ByteDance, has been seeking to assure Washington for the last three years that the personal data of U.S. citizens cannot be accessed and its content cannot be manipulated by China's Communist Party or any other entity under Beijing's influence.
President Joe Biden revoked an executive order in 2021 by his predecessor Donald Trump to ban TikTok in the United States, but talks between his administration and the social media company have continued over a potential deal that would spare ByteDance from being forced to divest TikTok.
TikTok has been putting together a programme to assure the U.S. government that it would comply with their security deal.
The programme involves hiring a third-party monitor, a source-code inspector, and three auditors, including one dedicated to cyber security and one to ensure that U.S. user data on existing TikTok servers will be deleted following migration to Oracle Corp, the two people familiar with the matter said.
These positions would be paid for by TikTok, but report to U.S. government officials.
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