Chinese video-sharing app, TikTok, is being banned on British government-owned mobile phones.

This follows a U-turn from the UK’s previously relaxed attitude – with some critics arguing that Britain should extend the ban to cover personal phones used by ministers and officials following an official review involving the government’s National Cyber Security Centre, an arm of GCHQ, and similar bans announced by the European Commission last month and the US in the past three weeks.

But what about businesses in the UK? Should employers across the country also be considering banning the app from work devices to protect Intellectual Property?

I think the key question is do employers understand the risk of this ‘harmless’ video sharing app?

In recent weeks, new privacy and security concerns have been raised over TikTok’s app. But with the number of TikTok users in the UK likely to reach 15 million this year, it’s a serious cause for concern. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, which have their roots in America, TikTok was designed and built in China – and relations between the West and China are fraying.

Researchers have revealed that TikTok routinely collects IP addresses, locations, and contact data from users’ phones. The app can also read the data on your phone’s clipboard – so if you copied sensitive text on your phone, such as a password, there’s a chance that TikTok could have accessed that information.

TikTok’s developer, ByteDance, have said that the clipboard data is used for an anti-spam algorithm – but I advise all users to think about how their personal data could be being used.

Like all apps and software, there are ways to protect your devices from malware and data breaches. It’s at the heart of our business. We would always ask businesses to consider whether it’s required by employees to complete their work, and to weigh up what the risks are and how they can be mitigated.

This may be through Microsoft Endpoint Manager as an MDM solution or a more traditional perimeter solution such as a firewall or web proxy.

Ultimately, the decision to ban TikTok on work phones will depend on the policies and priorities of individual organisations and governments.

It is important to consider the potential risks and benefits of using TikTok, as well as any relevant laws or regulations governing the use of personal and work devices.

If you’d like to speak to Holker about how you can improve the security within your organisation, give Holker a call on 0333 305 2020.

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