All articles tagged with #government devices
The US House of Representatives has banned the use of WhatsApp on government devices due to privacy and security concerns, citing lack of transparency and encryption issues, while approving other messaging apps like Signal and iMessage; Meta disputes the claims, emphasizing WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption.
The U.S. House of Representatives has banned staff from using WhatsApp on government devices due to cybersecurity concerns, citing lack of transparency and security risks, despite Meta's defense of the app's encryption. Staff are advised to use alternative messaging apps like Microsoft Teams, Signal, or Wickr.
Australia is banning TikTok from federal government devices due to security concerns about the Chinese-owned app, following the lead of other "Five Eyes" intelligence-sharing partners. TikTok has denied sharing data with the Chinese government and claims to be run independently. The ban only applies to government devices, but there is bipartisan support in Congress for an outright ban.
The Australian government has announced that it will remove TikTok from all federal government-owned devices over security concerns, becoming the latest U.S. allied country to initiate action against the Chinese-owned video app. The move underscores growing worries that China's government could use the Beijing-based company, owned by ByteDance Ltd, to harvest users' data to advance its political agenda, undermining Western security interests. With Australia's ban, all members of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network have banned the app from government devices.
More than a dozen countries have introduced full, partial, or public sector bans on TikTok due to national security concerns. The U.S. government has given federal agencies 30 days to remove TikTok from all phones and systems, while private companies and networks are also beginning to take action. TikTok CEO argues that selling TikTok to a U.S. company wouldn't address any national security concerns, and instead points to data privacy measures TikTok is taking as a better solution.
New Zealand has announced that it will ban TikTok on devices with access to the country's parliamentary network due to cybersecurity concerns. The ban will be implemented by the end of March. The decision was taken after advice from cybersecurity experts and discussions within government and with other countries. ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Both New Zealand's defence force and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Friday they had already implemented bans on TikTok on work devices.
The UK has banned TikTok from official government devices due to concerns about the app's links to China and the possibility of user data being handed over to the Chinese government. TikTok expressed disappointment at the decision and said it is voluntarily working to address security concerns. The US government has also requested that TikTok's Chinese owners sell their shares or risk a ban. US lawmakers have proposed expanding the Biden administration's authority to enact a nationwide ban on TikTok.
The UK government has banned the use of TikTok on government corporate devices due to concerns over cybersecurity and data privacy. The ban will not extend to personal devices for government employees, and exemptions for work purposes will be granted on a case-by-case basis with security mitigations put in place. The move follows similar bans in the US and EU, with lawmakers expressing concerns over user data being sent to China and getting into the hands of the government in Beijing. TikTok has highlighted its efforts to protect user data and is working with US firm Oracle to store all US data on its cloud.