TikTok Comes Under National Security Scanner: Report

TikTok has once again come under the National Security's review, Reuters report states. TikTok has been under the national security's scanner since last month over cybersecurity concerns. Many senators voiced their concern over the popular video-social-media app TikTok, which is now subjected to national security review.

TikTok Under US Federal Investigation

TikTok's parent company ByteDance (based out of China) will come under the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States for review. Two years ago, ByteDance bought another music-video based app Music.ly for $1 billion. Today, TikTok is one of the most popular apps and is still expanding, especially with the western audience.

TikTok had recently announced to have 800 million monthly active global users. There have been more than 1 billion downloads on the app, TikTok says. Coming to the security details, the specifics of the investigations are unclear at the moment. But, Reuters reports that the federal investigation is centered around ByteDance not securing a clearance from the CFIUS for the purchase of Music.ly.

TikTok Security Concerns

TikTok is also believed to be sending reports and data to China. But the company has contradicted such allegations. TikTok claims that all of its user data are stored in data centers situated in the US and Singapore. TikTok, although owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, it doesn't operate out of the country.

This also means that TikTok isn't obliged to the Chinese laws. All the user data, content, and other information are not linked to ByteDance or any other products in China, a TikTok spokesperson had mentioned when the first allegations had surfaced. Looking at the turn of events, TikTok could be the next under the radar for the trade war between the US and China, after Huawei.

TikTok is a popular app worldwide and its parent company ByteDance has posted more than $7 billion in revenue for the first half of 2019. Once the investigation begins, more details will surface. However, it's being predicted that TikTok could be put under the blacklist of companies as part of the national security concerns, which will likely affect the app.