Mona Fortier, head of the Secretariat of the Council of Finance Ministers, announced on Monday that from Tuesday, no official will be allowed to host the TikTok app, owned by Chinese ByteDance, on business devices.

From February 28, 2023, the TikTok app will be removed from government mobile devices. Users of these devices will also be prevented from downloading the app in the future. After reviewing TikTok, Canada’s Chief Information Officer determined that it posed an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.
– He said in Fortier’s statement.

The decision to remove and block TikTok from government mobile devices came as a precautionary measure, particularly given concerns about the legal regime that governs information collected from mobile devices, and is consistent with the approach of Canada’s international partners.

Specifically, as of today, no government information has been compromised through TikTok. The statement also stated that the new policy will not have any impact on people’s ability to install the app on their personal devices.

TikTok is a spy app

In a separate note sent to its staff earlier in the day by Canadian International Affairs, the department cited a “review” that found that “TikTok’s data collection methods may leave users vulnerable to cyberattacks.”

TikTok Canada spokeswoman Danielle Morgan said in a statement that she was “disappointed” by the company’s federal information officer’s decision, which “did not mention any specific security concerns” and did not contact the company in advance.

It also accused the government of “choosing” TikTok, which “will prevent authorities from reaching the public through a platform loved by millions of Canadians”.

It will be remembered that last week the IT service of the European Commission ordered all employees of the executive body of the European Union to delete the TikTok video application from their work and personal devices. The request, emailed to all employees on Thursday, February 23, comes amid growing concerns about data protection.