No more TikTok from the official phones of federal civil servants in Belgium, following a decision by the country's National Security Council, reports the newspaper Le Soir.
The National Security Council looked into the matter after several requests, including from Prime Minister Alexander de Croo, to the intelligence services. Both State Security and the Center for Cyber Security of Belgium have warned that "TikTok collects a large amount of data from users, often without their knowledge", can manipulate news feed and content through algorithms, while Chinese law forces the TikTok to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services, Soir points out.
“We are in a new geopolitical context where influence and surveillance between states have shifted to the digital world. We should not be naive: TikTok is a Chinese company that today is obliged to cooperate with the intelligence services. This is the reality", says the Belgian Prime Minister and adds that "the ban on the use of the application on the devices of federal services is common sense. This decision was made with the support of State Security and the Center for Cyber Security of Belgium. The security of our sensitive information takes precedence."
Specifically, the ban applies to all devices whose purchase, subscription or use is partially or fully borne by federal authorities and will last for six months, after which it will be reevaluated. Personal devices, used by civil servants for business purposes, are not affected by the ban, but such people are advised not to install the app, the publication noted. Meanwhile, the National Security Council is calling on regional, provincial and local authorities to impose a similar ban and is calling on the private sector to be vigilant about the risks associated with using the app and is asking the Data Protection Authority to investigate the privacy policy of TikTok.
Source: RES-EAP