Britain’s National Cyber ​​Security Center is considering whether TikTok should be banned from government phones

British National Cybersecurity Center is considering whether Chinese video app TikTok should be banned from using state-owned phones, Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said on Tuesday.

TikTok is gaining more and more attention due to fears that user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, undermining Western security interests.

United StatesCanada, Belgium and the European Commission have already banned the app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd, from being used on government devices.

“Understanding exactly what problems these apps create, what they require and how they infiltrate our lives is incredibly important,” Tugendhat told Sky News when asked if he would like TikTok to be banned from British government phones.

“That’s why I asked the National Cyber ​​Security Center to look into this. I didn’t have an answer yet. So I’m not going to give you this answer just yet. I can’t”.

EXPERTS WARN ABOUT USE OF TIKTOK IN SCHOOLS

In a separate interview with Times Radio, he said, “We have to make sure that our phones are not spyware, but tools that are useful to us.”

The National Cybersecurity Center in the UK is considering whether TikTok should be allowed on government devices.

The National Cybersecurity Center in the UK is considering whether TikTok should be allowed on government devices. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo)

TikTok said it would be disappointed with such a ban.

TIKTOK IS ‘THE DAGGER POINTED IN THE HEART’ OF US AND ‘DESTROYING YOUNG AMERICANS’, EXPERTS AND POLITICIANS WARN

“Similar decisions elsewhere have been based on misplaced concerns and appear to be driven by broader geopolitics, but we remain committed to working with the government to resolve any issues,” a TikTok spokesperson said, adding that he has begun to take steps to further protecting the data of European users. .

Last week, the White House backed legislation giving the administration new powers to ban TikTok and other foreign technologies if they pose a threat to national security.

UK on Monday cast China as representing an “epoch-defining challenge” to the world order in renewing its security plan and international politics.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Asked during a trip to the United States on Monday if the government was considering banning TikTok, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told ITV: “We’re looking at what our allies are doing.”

“We want to make sure we protect the integrity and security of sensitive information. And we will always do this and take all the necessary steps to make it happen,” he added.