FINE Gael’s Colm Markey has written to both the Ceann Comhairle and the Taoiseach, urging them to ban TikTok from government issued phones.
It comes amid reports today that UK Ministers and civil servants are to be prohibited from using the Chinese-owned app.
The Midlands-North-West MEP commented, “Ireland is behind the curve on this issue. The European Parliament, European Commission, the USA, Canada, Belgium and now the UK are banning TikTok from official devices due to cybersecurity concerns.
I called for a similar ban in Ireland last week and have since written to the Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl and the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, urging them to take action.”
“TikTok have been in communication with me and I recognise their efforts to be more transparent however we still don’t have a clear guarantee that private data is not being sent to China. TikTok is still subject to Chinese Intelligence Law and its parent company has admitted using the app to spy on journalists”, he added.
Markey concluded, “The Irish Data Protection Commission is currently carrying out an investigation into TikTok’s data sharing practices and I believe it would be prudent to ban the app from government issued devices until we get a draft decision from the Commission.
We must err on the side of caution as we have a duty to protect sensitive information from unauthorised access,” said Mr Markey.
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)