Ammon – Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok announced on Wednesday a number of new measures it will take to strengthen user data protection in Europe.
The new measures include strengthening controls on access to user data, by providing security gates that limit employee access to TikTok user data in Europe and the transfer of data outside it.
“Any access to data will not only comply with relevant data protection laws, but must first pass through these security gates and additional checks,” TikTok said.
The process will be overseen by a third-party European security company.
TikTok said it would also use advanced technologies to ensure the privacy of user information, such as pseudonymizing personal data so that an individual cannot be identified without additional information.
The company will start storing European user data locally starting this year, by establishing two new data centers in Ireland and Norway.
The first European data center for TikTok was set up in Dublin, Ireland, last year.
“Once operational, these three data centers will represent a total annual investment of 1.2 billion euros (1.26 billion U.S. dollars),” TikTok said.
The new measures, called “Project Clover,” will be implemented throughout this year and into 2024.
TikTok currently has more than 150 million users across Europe.
“With scale like this comes great responsibility,” the company noted, adding that “building trust by ensuring the safety, privacy, and security of our community and their data is critical.”
(Xinhua)
