TikTok was developed and is maintained by a Chinese company. A class action lawsuit alleges that downloading the TikTok app puts your device and content at risk, so your content may be adding yet additional information to the already robust intelligence targeting dossiers being compiled by the Chinese intelligence entities.
TikTok is the latest app stirring up controversy about foreign access to personal data. This past Sunday, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) stopped allowing employees to use the app to create social media posts for the agency due to national security threats ClearanceJobs has reported on previously.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer sent a letter letter Saturday to TSA Administrator David Pekoske. This comes after the U.S. government launched a national security review of the app in November of 2019. The review was initiated into TikTok’s parent company over its acquisition of the social media app Musical.ly
TSA said a “small number of TSA employees have previously used TikTok on their personal devices to create videos for use in TSA’s social media outreach, but that practice has since been discontinued.”
National security experts have raised concerns about the application’s collection of user data, especially considering laws that compel Chinese companies to cooperate with the intelligence work of their government.
So, you ask again, “should I stop using the app?”
In the words of ClearanceJobs contributor, Greg Stuart, “If you hold a government clearance, YES! Unless you are aspiring to become a viral music video director and plan to leave your job with the U.S. government, just delete it now…. stop reading and do it now, I’ll wait….. If you are a kid between the ages of 16-24 and reading this article on this website it means that you are interested in working for the government or a government contractor and would like to obtain a government clearance. This advice applies to you, too. Delete TikTok now – the risk isn’t worth the reward of 15 seconds of fame or a few seconds of entertainment.”
