This was reported by Reuters, Ukrinform reports.

NCSC President Richard Brown stated TikTok “It is at a very high, if not the highest, amount of user data it collects,” and this poses a risk due to the nature of China’s intelligence-gathering laws.

“…we must take a sensible approach based on risk assessment, while ensuring that government data is not compromised in this way,” Brown said.

Meanwhile, the NCSC said there is no reason why politicians should not use the app on private devices. The application can also be used on business phones in exceptional cases, especially in case of business necessity.

TikTok, owned by Chinese ByteDance, has come under scrutiny by governments and regulators over concerns that the Chinese government could use the app to collect user data or advance its interests.

As Ukrinform reported, all members of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence sharing network, consisting of Australia, Canada, the USA, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, previously banned the TikTok application on government devices. France, Belgium and the European Commission have announced similar bans.

TikTok vehemently denied claims that it shared user data with the Chinese government.