FCC Commissioner Asks Apple and Google to Remove TikTok From App Stores

thewrap.com:

“TikTok is not just another video app. That’s the sheep’s clothing. It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing,” he said, referencing the popular video app’s Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance.Carr, who was previously General Counsel for the FCC, shared the June 24 letter he sent to both tech companies on Twitter, along with the message: “I’ve called on @Apple & @Google to remove TikTok from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices.”He added, “Numerous provisions of Apple’s & Google’s policies are relevant to TikTok’s pattern of surreptitious data harvesting—a pattern that runs contrary to its public representations.

And there’s plenty of precedent for holding TikTok accountable by booting it from these app stores.”TikTok is not just another video app.That’s the sheep’s clothing.It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing.I’ve called on @Apple & @Google to remove TikTok from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices.

pic.twitter.com/Le01fBpNjnCarr’s letter calls  ByteDance “beholden” to the Chinese government and stated that the company is “required by law to comply with [Chinese government] surveillance demands.” He cited a June 17 BuzzFeed News report that alleged ByteDance employees in China have accessed US TikTok users’ data, including birth dates and phone numbers on multiple occasions.

Carr said the report, which was conducted by an external auditor on BuzzFeed’s behalf, demonstrates that TikTok is “out of compliance with the policies that both [Apple and Google] require every app to adhere to.”TikTok called theBuzzFeed report “misleading” in a statement sent to CNN: “Like.