TikTok unveils European data security plan amid calls for US ban

theguardian.com:

TikTok has announced a data security regime for protecting user information across Europe, as political pressure increases in the US to ban the social video app.

The plan, known as Project Clover, involves user data being stored on servers in Ireland and Norway at an annual cost of €1.2bn (£1.1bn), while any data transfers outside of Europe will be vetted by a third-party IT company.

TikTok is under pressure in the US and Europe over its links to China via its Beijing-based parent, ByteDance. On Tuesday the White House gave its backing to a Senate bill that would give the administration the power to ban TikTok.

TikTok, which stores its global user data in the US and Singapore, has denied its data or algorithms can be accessed or manipulated by the Chinese government.

“The Chinese government have never asked us for data, and if they would we would refuse to do so,” said Theo Bertram, TikTok’s vice-president of government relations and public policy in Europe. TikTok, which has more than 1 billion users worldwide, has 150 million in Europe.

TikTok had said it would store data in two servers in Ireland but announced on Wednesday that it would also use a data centre in Norway for the same purpose under Project Clover. The use of the Irish and Norwegian data servers will cost TikTok €1.2bn per year.

Under Clover, TikTok’s data controls and transfer of data outside of the continent will be monitored by a third-party European cybersecurity firm, although the company has yet to disclose the name of its security partner.

TikTok said it would introduce “pseudonymisation” of personal data so an individual could not be identified without additional information.

Last year TikTok confirmed employees outside the continent, including in China,