Canadian Govt Bans Chinese-owned Social Media App TikTok

Ottawa (Canada): Canadian government yesterday announced a ban on the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from government-issued devices.

Users of these devices will also be blocked from downloading the application in the future. The government said that TikTok presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.

In a statement, the government said that TikTok’s data collection methods provide considerable access to the contents of the phone.

The announcement comes days after the European Commission imposed a similar ban.

Last week, Canada’s federal privacy watchdog and its provincial counterparts in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec announced an investigation of whether the app complies with Canadian privacy legislation.