Sens. Say TikTok Confirms Some US Data Stored in China

A pair of bipartisan lawmakers are demanding answers after TikTok admitted to storing American users’ data in China.

“We are extremely concerned that TikTok is storing Americans’ personal, private data within the reach of the Chinese government,” said Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

“TikTok executives appear to have repeatedly and intentionally misled Congress when answering how the company secures and protects the data of Americans. TikTok’s response makes it crystal clear that Americans’ data is still exposed to Beijing’s draconian and pervasive spying regimes — despite the claims of TikTok’s misleading public relations campaign.”

Officials with the company, which previously said under oath before Congress that Americans’ data had always been stored outside China, in a letter Friday said creator content data is handled differently.

“We stand by the statements made by our company executives to Congress,” TikTok wrote in the letter. “We were asked about, and our testimony focused on, the protected user data collected in the app — not creator data.”

A Forbes investigation revealed that internal documents of some of the platform’s top creators, including tax forms and social security numbers, are stored in China. Creators are paid by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, which is based in China.

“Public data, business metrics, interoperability data, and certain creator data, if a creator voluntarily signs up for a commercial program to be supported by TikTok in reaching new audiences and monetizing content,” the company stated in its letter to the senators. “TikTok believes that the Forbes article cited in your letter was referencing certain creator data such as signed contracts and related documents for U.S. creators who enter into a commercial relationship with TikTok — information that is collected outside of the standard app experience. Like most companies, we enter into commercial relationships with businesses and individuals, and collect and retain certain information to comply with applicable audit, accounting, tax, and other regulations.”