FCC Commissioner Wants Apple and Google to Remove TikTok From App Stores Over Data Security Concerns

The FCC has asked Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores. The agency that regulates nearly all communications companies in the U.S., including those that do business with international firms, cited China-related data-security concerns. Brendan Carr, a Republican member of the FCC, via a tweet, shared a letter addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai raising concerns over how the Chinese-owned video app poses “serious national security threats” and violate Google and Apple’s data privacy standard. “TikTok is not what it appears to be on the surface," Carr wrote. "It is not just an app for sharing funny videos or memes. That’s the sheep’s clothing. At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data.” Concerns over TikTok's data security have long drawn the attention of policymakers in the U.S. Former President Trump tried to kill the app through two executive orders, but the clock ran out on his administration. Anyone Can Buy Ads Programmatically. That Presents Risks in a Post-Roe World "The concerns about TikTok’s data practices aren’t new," said Insider Intelligence principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson. And advertisers are increasingly spending on the platform, which is projected to generate $5.96 billion in revenue, up 184% year over year (YoY). This gives TikTok a 2.4% share of the U.S digital ad market. "(Data concerns) don’t appear to be affecting marketers’ decisions on where they advertise," Williamson added. The U.S generates more than half of TikTok’s ad revenue Carr’s letter comes at a pivotal time in TikTok’s business growth. More than half of its ad revenue, 51.2%, is estimated to come from the U.S this year, per an Insider Intelligence report seen by Adweek. “If one or both were to agree with Brendan Carr and remove TikTok from their app store, or if other U.S. government entities take more definitive actions against TikTok, that would—and should—make advertisers more concerned about the app and its data practices," added Williamson. TikTok is the third-largest social network in the U.S., with 94.1 million monthly users in 2022 and will grow 8.2% this year. The app is likely to surpass Twitter and Snapchat combined within the U. S market, garnering over 100 million users by 2024. TikTok’s issues with the federal government first came to light aboard Air Force One in July 2020, when then-President Trump told reporters he intended to ban the app in the U.S., accusing the company of sharing user data with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, and with government officials in Beijing. TikTok fired back, asserting that no user data was shared in China and that ByteDance was actually headquartered in the Cayman Islands, but the Trump administration kept applying pressure, leading to a near-sale of TikTok to Oracle and Walmart in September 2020. Currently, the FCC is split between two republicans and two democrats, including chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who has not weighed in on Carr's letter. Where's the data? The China connection stormed back into the news in a big way earlier this month, when Emily Baker-White of BuzzFeed News obtained access to leaked audio from more than 80 internal TikTok meetings, which contained multiple references by multiple employees stating that ByteDance employees based in China repeatedly accessed nonpublic data about U.S. TikTok users. Responding to Carr's letter, Albert Calamug, who works on U.S. security policy for TikTok, said all U.S. user data has been stored in its data centers in the U.S. and Singapore, adding that 100% of U.S. user traffic is now being routed to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, with the data centers being used for backup. The likelihood of Carr’s letter gaining traction is bleak since the FCC does not regulate app stores. But it shows the continued pressure from Washington regulators on China's big tech.

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FCC Commissioner Wants Apple and Google to Remove TikTok From App Stores Over Data Security Concerns

TikTok is expected to generate $5.96 billion in 2022 in U.S. ad revenue

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