TikTok has proposed a data security framework for protecting user information throughout Europe as political pressure grows in the US to ban the social video app.
In a blog post published on Wednesday, Mar. 8, TikTok's European VP of government relations and public policy, Theo Bertram, introduced the new Project Clover and described it as "a secure enclave for European TikTok user data."
According to BBC News, data transfers will be monitored by a third-party security firm as part of Project Clover. ByteDance-owned TikTok will make it more difficult to single out specific users from aggregated data. It also states that "security gateways" will increase the level of protection for European user data and transfers outside of Europe.
Rigorous US Scrutiny
TikTok has been under regulatory scrutiny for some time now because of its links to the Chinese internet firm ByteDance.
The European Union (EU) has ordered its employees to uninstall the video-hosting app.
On Tuesday, Mar. 7, New bipartisan legislation was introduced that may empower the government to block or ban foreign-based technology like TikTok if they pose a danger to national security. The White House has voiced its support for the proposed bill.
Strategic Plans for Europe
Notably, TikTok intended to make a significant investment in data center facilities in European countries. The first of these was supposed to open in Ireland last year but has been repeatedly delayed due to technical difficulties.
The corporation has just revealed plans to build two more data centers in the area: Ireland and Norway. It was said that the Norwegian data center would only use green energy.
TikTok has announced that it will begin moving user data from its current Chinese servers to European servers this year, with the migration expected to continue until 2024. This announcement comes after reports surfaced that TikTok employees in China had access to data belonging to European users.
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'Project Clover'
Project Clover is a collection of TikTok's privacy and security efforts, as TechCrunch reported. Some of which were previously revealed, and some of which are brand new.
Along with the data centers TikTok is planning for Europe, Project Clover will provide new data access and control methods, including security gates that select which staff may access European TikTok user data. TikTok said it would hire a European-based independent security firm to evaluate its data controls and processes.
"We are in discussions with a third-party and will announce more details in due course," Bertram stated.
Bertram said that TikTok plans to work with other companies to incorporate the newest sophisticated technology into its current infrastructure. Included in this category is a process called "pseudonymisation," which modifies personal data so that it is harder to trace back to specific users in case of a data breach.
