LAST UPDATE | 21 Apr 2023

GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS ARE being advised not to use TikTok on official devices over cybersecurity concerns.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a state agency responsible for advising the government on cyber security threats, issued guidance to departments today against using the app on official devices.

However, the NCSC is not advocating for an all-out ban of TikTok.

Speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, the director of the NCSC Richard Browne said: “We’re not saying the application can’t be used by other individuals, or shouldn’t be used by politicians outside of official devices.

“There’s no reason on Earth why private individuals or politicians on their personal devices can’t use this. That’s not the risk we’re talking about here; the risk here is to public data held on publicly-owned devices.”

Several other countries have taken the decision in recent months to ban public sector employees from installing the video-sharing app, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed last month that the government had sought advice from the NCSC after the UK announced a ban on the app on official devices.

Asked by The Journal whether the government was considering a similar move to the UK, Varadkar said at the time: “As things stand, we’re not advising anybody in the public sector or in government to remove TikTok from their work phones, but that is still under review.”

The NCSC has since conducted a technical assessment, according to a government spokesperson.

Its advice is that TikTok should not be installed or used on official public sector devices except for exceptional cases where there is considered to be a business need. 

The European Commission and governments in France, Netherlands, the UK, the United States, Canada and New Zealand have all told officials not to use the app on work devices.

Chris Stokel-Walker, author of a definitive book on TikTok, joined us The Explainer podcast recently to explain what the controversies around the Chinese-run app are. Hit the button below to listen

Browne told RTÉ that the move is “entirely aligned with what colleagues across Europe have done”.

Browne added that the NCSC has “leaned heavily on the experiences and analysis conducted by colleagues in the European Commission and the European Union”. 

He described the move as being “part of a large international process to understand what kind of risks are associated with this particular application”. 

While Browne told RTÉ that Tik Tok “does not have any particularly apparent cybersecurity vulnerabilities”, he noted that it “does have extremely high permissions and gathers and stores very large amounts of user data”. 

He also described Tik Tok’s ownership structure as “relatively unusual”. 

“Given the nature of Chinese intelligence gathering laws, that means that Tik Tok and its employees are subject to Chinese law and the application of a number of different measures,” said Browne.

TikTok has insisted that the Chinese government has no control over or access to its data, though the firm acknowledged in November that some employees in China could access European user data and in December said that employees had used the data to spy on journalists.

Browne said this availability of user data from the EU “creates a whole series of other potential risks for government users”. 

“The logical argument is that we take a sensible risk-based approach and ensure that government data can’t be compromised in that way,” added Browne. 

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China “has never and will not require companies or individuals to collect or provide data located in a foreign country, in a way that violates local law”.

In a high-profile hearing, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before a committee of US politicians last month to face intense questioning about the app – some of which was marred, however, by a lack of understanding among the politicians about fundamental workings of the internet.

Chew told the legislators that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is “not owned or controlled by the Chinese government and is a private company”.

Fine Gael MEP Colm Markey, who has previously called for Ireland to ban the app from official devices, said he “welcomed” the new guidance

He said the alleged ties between TikTok and the Chinese government were “hugely concerning”.

“We can’t afford to take any chances with the security of our information. Although this announcement is overdue, it is crucial that we err on the side of caution as we have a duty to protect sensitive information from unauthorised access,” Markey said.

“It’s prudent to ban the app from government devices until we get a clear guarantee that private data is not being sent to China.”

Additional reporting by Tadgh McNally and AFP