During a parliamentary committee’s investigation into foreign interference on social media, TikTok executives acknowledged on Tuesday that the company’s employees in China have the ability to access Australian user data. The video-sharing platform openly admitted to accessing the data of Australian users in China during the questioning.
TikTok Questioned For Users Data
TikTok’s head of data security Will Farrell was questioned by Australian members of parliament, to testify whether or not the platform shares its data with third parties. The committee asked Farrell how many times the Australian users’ data was accessed in China, to which Farrell responded that she didn’t know the exact figure, but it did happen.
TikTok Accessed Journalists’ Data
In response to accusations of improper surveillance of journalists and attempts to uncover their sources, TikTok Australia’s general manager, Lee Hunter, defended the company and labeled such actions as “serious misconduct.” Hunter clarified that the employees responsible for these activities are no longer associated with TikTok.
