{"id":933053,"date":"2021-10-28T14:44:24","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T18:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=933053"},"modified":"2021-10-28T14:44:26","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T18:44:26","slug":"tiktok-executive-insists-company-does-not-give-user-information-to-communist-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tiktok-executive-insists-company-does-not-give-user-information-to-communist-china\/","title":{"rendered":"TikTok Executive Insists Company Does Not Give User Information to Communist China"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftiktok-executive-insists-company-does-not-give-user-information-to-communist-china%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=933053&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">TikTok executive Michael Beckerman insisted that the Chinese-owned social media platform does not share user data with the Chinese government during a Senate hearing on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do not share information with the Chinese government,\u201d said Beckerman, the head of TikT0k\u2019s&nbsp;public policy for the Americas.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Beckerman was responding to a question from&nbsp;Sen.&nbsp;Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who asked if TikTok shares user data with the ByteDance, the Beijing-based&nbsp;technology company that&nbsp;owns TikTok, as well as&nbsp;Douyin, its Chinese counterpart.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_13010247\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"38\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/marsha-blackburn-getty.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13010247\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/marsha-blackburn-getty.jpg\" alt=\"Blackburn\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 JANUARY 30: Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) walks in the U.S. Capitol during a break on the second day that Senators have the opportunity to ask questions during impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald Trump on January 30, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_15143047\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"32\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Chinese-flag-barbed-wire-housing-compound-Xinjiang-China-Uighur-Getty-640x480-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15143047\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Chinese-flag-barbed-wire-housing-compound-Xinjiang-China-Uighur-Getty-640x480-1.jpg\" alt=\"China\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chinese flag (GREG BAKER\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cU.S. user data is stored in the United States,\u201d Beckerman insisted. \u201cOur backups are in Singapore, and we have a&nbsp;world-renowned U.S.-based security team that handles access to user data.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blackburn then asked if TikTok\u2019s&nbsp;programmers, product developers, and the data teams are housed in China, to which&nbsp;Beckerman offered up a vague answer, stating, \u201cLike many technology companies, we have engineers in the United States, and around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The senator went on to say that TikTok collects and keeps \u201ca&nbsp;wide variety of information, including biometric data, such as face prints, voice prints, geolocation information, browsing and search history,\u201d as well as \u201ckeystroke patterns and rhythms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blackburn said she is concerned that TikTok is creating a \u201cvirtual you\u201d or \u201cvirtual dossier\u201d of the users on its platform, and asked why the company feels the need to have all of this information.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you building a replication of where they go, their search history, their voice, their biometrics?\u201d Blackburn asked. \u201cWhy does TikTok and&nbsp;ByteDance and&nbsp;Douyin need that information on our children?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The TikTok executive responded by stating that the company \u201cis an entertainment platform where people watch and enjoy and create short-form videos. It\u2019s about uplifting and entertaining content, people love it, and I disagree with the characterization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the Chinese Communist Party asks you for U.S. user data, what is to stop you from providing it, since they have a seat on the board of ByteDance, and they have a financial stake in the company?\u201d&nbsp;Blackburn asked.<\/p>\n<p>Beckerman responded by denying the&nbsp;Chinese Communist Party\u2019s involvement, stating, \u201cThey do not have a stake in TikTok,\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is&nbsp;ByteDance,\u201d the senator specified. \u201cThe Chinese Communist Party acquired a stake in&nbsp;ByteDance in August, and they now have a seat on the board.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last year, then-President Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/trump-orders-chinese-owner-of-tiktok-to-sell-us-assets\/\">ordered<\/a>&nbsp;ByteDance to divest itself of any assets used to support the TikTok app in the United States. Trump then&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/tech\/2020\/09\/21\/tiktok-parent-company-bytedance-disputes-5-billion-government-fee-in-deal-with-oracle\/\">granted<\/a> preliminary approval for a deal in which Oracle and Walmart&nbsp;could be potential buyers \u2014 but&nbsp;ByteDance resisted the sale,&nbsp;stressing it would remain in control of the TikTok Global business.<\/p>\n<p>ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming later&nbsp;spoke to the company\u2019s employees globally, encouraging them to keep working and to wait for the geopolitical storm to pass, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/tiktok-sale-to-oracle-walmart-is-shelved-as-biden-reviews-security-11612958401\">reported<\/a> the<em> Wall Street Journal<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In February, the deal&nbsp;for TikTok\u2019s American operations with Oracle and Walmart was been <a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/tech\/2021\/02\/10\/report-biden-white-house-puts-hold-on-tiktok-deal-with-oracle-and-walmart\/\">put on hold indefinitely<\/a> by the Biden White House. The decision was unopposed by ByteDance.<\/p>\n<p><em>You can follow Alana&nbsp;Mastrangelo on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ARmastrangelo\">Facebook<\/a> and Twitter at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ARmastrangelo\">@ARmastrangelo<\/a>, and on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alanamastrangelo\/\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TikTok executive Michael Beckerman insisted that the Chinese-owned social media platform does not share user data with the Chinese government during a Senate hearing on Tuesday. \u201cWe do not share &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-933053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=933053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=933053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=933053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=933053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}