In an interview, Mr. Beckerman called TikTok’s data collection “all very small” compared to other social apps. To mitigate security concerns, the app has said it plans to store all of its US data in the United States, a process Mr. Beckerman said would likely happen this year. He did not name a specific date.
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The White House may be preparing to intervene soon in broader policies around apps that could expose data to foreign adversaries. Earlier this year, it circulated a draft executive order that would give the government more power to mediate in cases where data is at risk of being exposed to an adversary. The Biden administration is also expected to advise a committee investigating transactions with foreign companies soon, saying it is particularly sensitive to cases that could expose Americans’ data to other governments. It is also considering ways of assessing entire classes of potentially risky deals, rather than approaching them on an individual basis.
“The Biden administration is addressing the challenge of certain countries, including China, who want to use American digital technologies and data in ways that pose unacceptable national security risks while promoting authoritarian control and interests,” said Saloni Sharma, a senior executive. spokeswoman for the National. Security Council. “The administration is also looking at additional possible actions to address this challenge.”
TikTok has been facing security questions for years, especially in 2020 when Mr. Trump issued an executive order to block it from Apple and Google app stores unless ByteDance sold the app to a US company. He later announced a deal to sell some of the app to Oracle, the US cloud computing giant, but it never materialized. Federal courts eventually ruled that Mr. Trump’s order to block TikTok was illegal, along with another order that blocked the Chinese app WeChat, and last summer Mr. Biden reversed both.
But the government has continued to try to mitigate TikTok’s risks. The app and the United States Foreign Investment Committee, which examines international involvement in deals, have quietly negotiated a solution to the government’s concerns, according to people following the discussions. TikTok has said it plans to store all of its US user data on Oracle’s servers in the United States, unlike TikTok’s servers in Singapore and Virginia.
While a larger team is working to shield U.S. user data, only about 10 TikTok employees have seen the draft agreement between the company and the government, TikTok said, reflecting the close nature of the negotiations.
