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TikTok: Lawyers hope new data centre can ease privacy fears

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TMT Reporter

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Big tech companies have breached their fair share of data rules this year and regulators have dished out penalties. Here are the largest ones.
Big tech companies have breached their fair share of data rules this year and regulators have dished out penalties. Here are the largest ones. (Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Tiktok has opened a European data centre which lawyers say could quell international privacy fears currently plaguing the app.

This week the Chinese video app opened a new data centre based in Dublin as part of an effort to calm European data privacy concerns around the app’s links to China.

‘Project Clover’, as it has been dubbed, means data from Tiktok’s 150m European users will now be stored on servers in Dublin, with two more centres in Ireland and Norway to follow.

Francis Katamba, partner at Browne Jacobson’s London office, agreed the Dublin data centre can “alleviate fears” because data will be stored under European standards, instead of Chinese ones.

“Tiktok’s move appears to be intended to build trust by reassuring users that their data will be protected under European regulatory standards.

“It highlights the growing importance for data-driven businesses of placing legal and regulatory considerations at the heart of their strategic decision making,” Katamba explained.

Project Clover has also commissioned an independent audit of Tiktok’s work by global cyber security company NCC Group, who will carefully monitor the social media company’s data controls and report on it.

Anthony O’Loughlin, head of litigation and general counsel at London law firm Setfords, said the data centre and audit will “provide some comfort” to UK and EU authorities worried about the risk of China gaining access to personal data from Europeans who use the app.

“NCC Group will subject Tiktok’s data protection and cyber-security work to rigorous checks and, assuming their conclusions are shared with authorities, this will provide a level of comfort in respect to possible data breaches,” he explained.

However, he said it may not mean a lift on the ban of Tiktok on government devices introduced earlier this year.

“For some within the UK and EU authorities, the real issue will be Bytedance’s perceived closeness to Beijing as opposed to data security measures per se. The risk of Bytedance clandestinely working with the Chinese authorities will, in some eyes, remain.”

Bytedance owned Tiktok denies accusations it collects more user data than other social media companies, and insists that it is run independently by its own management.

However, that hasn’t extinguished fiery concerns that China could demand access to Tiktok’s data anytime.

The UK, US and Australia have all banned the app from government devices, while India imposed a full nationwide ban on Tiktok and dozens of other Chinese apps, including messaging app Wechat, in 2020 over privacy and security worries.