EU Officials Ban TikTok From Employees' Phones

Staff working at the European Commission have been ordered to remove the TikTok app from their phones and corporate devices. The BBC reports: The commission said it was implementing the measure to 'protect data and increase cybersecurity.' EU spokeswoman Sonya Gospodinova said the corporate management board of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, had made the decision for security reasons. 'The measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyberattacks against the corporate environment of the commission,' she said. The ban also means that European Commission staff cannot use TikTok on personal devices that have official apps installed.

The commission says it has around 32,000 permanent and contract employees. They must remove the app as soon as possible and no later than March 15. For those who do not comply by the set deadline, the corporate apps -- such as the commission email and Skype for Business -- will no longer be available. TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has faced allegations that it harvests users' data and hands it to the Chinese government.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.