the french government banned this Friday the installation and use of “leisure” applicationssuch as the TikTok social network or the American platform Netflix on the professional phones of 2.5 million agents of the State civil service.
These apps feature “cybersecurity risks and data protection of public agents and the administration”, considered sources close to the French Minister of Public Administration, Stanislas Guerini.
(Further: ‘TikTok is a threat that must end one way or another’: Antony Blinken)
TikTok is very popular for its short and viral videos and has more than 1 billion active users in the world.
The measure of the French authorities follows in the footsteps of various institutions and Western governments that have banned or limited the use of TikTok on professional devices, for fear of spying problems.
(Also: This was the harsh interrogation against the CEO of TikTok in the US Congress.)
A ministry source said that the ban would include “gaming apps like Candy Crush, streaming apps like Netflix and entertainment apps like TikTok.”
They included the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, and the governments of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. The group has insisted that the Chinese government has no control or access over this data.
But in November, the company admitted that some employees in China could access the data of European users.
(Read: Why is the head of TikTok speaking this Thursday before the US Congress?)
And in December, he assured that employees had used the data to spy on journalists. Chinese authorities said Friday that they “never” ask companies to hand over data collected abroad.
The government “has never and will not ask companies or individuals to collect or release data from foreign countries in a way that violates local law,” Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a news conference. .
AFP
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