POLICY
POLICY
POLICY
TikTok’s parent company fired four employees for accessing data on Western journalists
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance Ltd. has fired some employees after it was discovered they had improperly accessed the personal data of U.S. journalists, news that will no doubt vindicate those U.S. politicians who have been saying the Chinese app is a threat to national security.
An internal investigation at the company found that at least two journalists had been tracked, as well as other users of the app inside the U.S. It revealed that the employees had been trying to ascertain who had been leaking information to the press.
Two of the people whose data was accessed had worked for the Financial Times and BuzzFeed, while the staff doing the snooping were based in both the U.S. and China. IP addresses were tracked so that it might be discovered who had been around TikTok employees and possibly passed on information.
“I was deeply disappointed when I was notified of the situation,” ByteDance Chief Executive Rubo Liang said in an email to employees. “The public trust that we have spent huge efforts building is going to be significantly undermined by the misconduct of a few individuals.”
For a long time now, certain politicians in the U.S. have warned that the Chinese app poses a security risk to the U.S., accusing it of being spying apparatus for the Chinese Communist Party. It was almost banned in the U.S. under the Trump administration but came through that period relatively unharmed.
The revelations today couldn’t have come at a worse time, given that scrutiny over the immensely popular app has just heated up again. Several states in December banned the app on all government-issued devices, stating that TikTok might well be in the game of harvesting data for the Chinese government.
TikTok Chief Executive Shou Chew told his employees in an email that the tracking was “unacceptable.” He added, “The individuals involved misused their authority to obtain access to TikTok user data.”
The U.S. is currently in talks with TikTok so that the company can address national security concerns, so this latest hiccup has certainly thrown a wrench in the works in that regard. “We need to deeply reflect on our actions and think about how we can prevent similar incidents from happening again,” Liang told his staff.
Photo: Alexander Shatov/Flickr
A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:
Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.
- 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more
- 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network.
About SiliconANGLE Media
SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.
Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.
