TikTok's first European data center is now up and running.
The popular social media platform recently started migrating European users' data to its new Ireland data center to calm regulators' privacy concerns over its operations.
TikTok expects its data migration process to continue into 2024, per the statement it released on Mar. 8.
TikTok's European Data Center
TikTok's European data center, which is located in Dublin, Ireland, is now operational, albeit partially. According to a report from Tech Crunch, the migration of the data of its European users will likely end sometime in late 2024 - specifically its last quarter.
This data center will be under the supervision of the NCC Group, a UK-based information assurance firm that will audit TikTok's data controls and protections in its data center, per Engadget. The NCC Group will also monitor its data flows, provide independent verification, and report any incidents if needed.
Additionally, TikTok also said the company will oversee the data center's incoming and outgoing data to ensure that only approved employees can access users' sensitive information. It will also be the one to respond to any suspicious or anomalous access attempts and provide assurance on the integrity of the enhanced security controls operations.
The company expects to establish two additional data centers in operation by 2024. The second will be Ireland-based like the first, while the third will be located in Norway, where it will run entirely on renewable energy.
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TikTok's Project Clover
The establishment of these data centers is part of TikTok's Project Clover, which aims to address regulators' worries in the EU over its links to China. The plan also calls for fresh data access and control processes, including the so-called "security gateways" that dictate which employees can access European TikTok user data.
Regulators have a reason to be worried about TikTok's connections to China. ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, confirmed that some of its (now-fired) employees accessed the data of several users in the US, including journalists'.
ByteDance's revelation happened when state governments banned TikTok from government-owned devices to avoid something similar from happening. You may recall that 11 US states enacted such a ban in 2022, with Georgia being the 11th state to do so.
The US state of Montana also enacted a ban on TikTok but took it a step further. While it initially did ban the app on government devices, it also imposed a total ban on the social media platform by 2024; people living there couldn't install the app on their phones.
The US and other countries have also banned the app from government-issued devices for fear of cyber espionage and threats to national security, with New Zealand being one of the latest to do so. These countries claim that China's Xi Jinping and his administration under the CCP could use TikTok as a "massive surveillance and data collection [tool]," per cyber security analysts at ProtonMail (via Forbes).
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