TikTok collecting user-data, sending to China: Tharoor

The popular video-sharing app TikTok is charged with a serious accusation of illegal storing of user-data.

Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament (Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala), while speaking during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha has claimed that TikTok-maker ByteDance is illegally collecting user information and sharing it with China.

Tharoor cited a recent case of US government slapping a $5.7 million (approx. Rs 39.32 crore) fine against TikTok for storing details of the children and sending them to China Telecom, a government-run company of the communist country.

Claiming it to be a national security issue, Tharoor fears that the company may collect private data to create a user profile to make profits ( probably with targeted ads) and may also use some personal information for political control by the vested foreign entity.

With the steady rise of smartphone and internet-connected device usage in India, it is imperative for the Indian government to create a robust and comprehensive framework for the protection of user privacy, Tharoor urged.

TikTok has rubbished the charge of Tharoor and claims it to be false.

Here's the TikTok's official response to Deccan Herald:

​These claims are simply untrue. The privacy and security of our users is a top priority for TikTok, and we abide by local laws and regulations in the markets where we operate. Our Indian users’ data is stored in the U.S. and Singapore at industry-leading third-party data centers. TikTok does not operate in the People's Republic of China and their government has no access to TikTok users’ data, nor does it have any existing partnership with China Telecom

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