STORTING (Dagbladet): The controversial TikTok app has been installed on Norwegian ministers’ phones, Dagbladet can now say.
Both Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (AP) and Fisheries Minister Bjørnar Skjæran (AP) admit to Dagbladet that they have the app on their work phones.
TikTok is Chinese and is accused of working closely with Chinese authorities. The app requires access to a large amount of personal data in order to use it.
– That members of the government and others high up in the civil service are apparently not warned against TikTok is a mystery to me, Gaute Wangen tells Dagbladet.
Don’t be like Hadia
– Don’t be discouraged
Bjørnlund Wangen is an associate professor at NTNU and an expert in information security risk management.
Kjerkol and Skjæran tell Dagbladet that they used TikTok minimally, even though the app was on their work phone.
– I follow the safety recommendations I receive from the ministry, which include, among other things, that both the phone and the apps are updated to the latest version. Digital security is a top priority in the ministry and my civil service has an ongoing dialogue with relevant security circles within and outside the ministry community. I have not been advised against downloading the Tiktok app nor have I shared any data in the app, Ingvild Kjerkol tells Dagbladet.
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Kjerkol says he downloaded the app in connection with the ‘Toxic’ series launched on TikTok.
– It’s a series about eating disorders among kids. Many children and young people use the app every day and get impressions and news from it. A series on eating disorders can thus reach children on a difficult but important topic. The debate over using TikTok and other apps is obviously an important one, Kjerkol continues.
HADDE TIKTOK: Bjørnar Skjæran, Labor deputy leader and fisheries minister. Photo: Torstein Boe / NTB
sea View
AP deputy leader and fisheries minister Bjørnar Skjæran says he used TikTok little, even though it was on his phone.
– The app was used once when a family member sent him a link to a TikTok video. The app has now been deleted, his ministry told Dagbladet.
– Just answer!
– It does not belong
Expert Gaute Wangen is not impressed with Kjerkol and Skjæran’s explanations.
Wangen points out that the app takes information from the user whether or not the app is actually used. The information from the work phones of two ministers thus ended up in the hands of Chinese TikTok.
SHAKE YOUR HEAD: Expert in Information Security Risk Management at NTNU, Gaute Bjørklund Wangen. Photo: NTNU
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– As for the replies to Skjæran and Kjerkol, I’d say they show a poor understanding of digital security risk – it’s not about whether or not you actively participate in TikTok. It is when the application is installed and access to the contents of the phone is granted that the potential security breach occurs. While the app is active on the phone, it will collect data from the user and forward it to Bytedance whether the user is sharing videos or actively participating in TikTok in other ways, Wangen says.
Adds:
– It’s good that Skjæran deleted TikTok as it doesn’t belong to a service phone.
