TikTok may be sending some EU user data to China – Helen Dixon

Maintenance and AI engineers in China may be accessing data, watchdog warns

The Irish data protection commissioner is the lead data watchdog for TikTok in the EU. Photograph: iStock
The Irish data protection commissioner is the lead data watchdog for TikTok in the EU. Photograph: iStock

TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app, may be sending some European Union user data to China, the data protection commissioner has warned.

"TikTok tells us that EU data is transferred to the US and not to China, however we have understood that there is possibility that maintenance and AI engineers in China may be accessing data," Helen Dixon said at an online event on Wednesday.

ByteDance’s TikTok is facing scrutiny in the EU over how it handles children’s personal information. The Irish regulator in December became the lead EU data protection authority for TikTok.

The authority has dozens of other privacy investigations open into Facebook and other Silicon Valley tech giants, who have all set up an EU hub in the State.

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TikTok didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. – Bloomberg