The US Army is investigating TikTok
- The US Army is launching an investigation into shortform video app TikTok over how it handles its user data.
- Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy confirmed the investigation was set into motion after Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer wrote to him urging an investigation into the China-based company.
- TikTok has been under intense scrutiny from US lawmakers due to its Chinese roots.
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The US Army is undertaking a security assessment of China-owned social media platform TikTok after a Democratic lawmaker raised national security concerns over the app's handling of user data, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters at an event at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, McCarthy said he ordered the assessment after the top Democrat in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, asked him to investigate the possible risks in the military's use of the popular video app for recruiting American teenagers.
"National security experts have raised concerns about TikTok's collection and handling of user data, including user content and communications, IP addresses, location-related data, metadata, and other sensitive personal information," Schumer wrote in a November 7 letter to McCarthy.
Schumer said he was especially concerned about Chinese laws requiring domestic companies "to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party."
This is not the first time Schumer has sounded the alarm against a foreign tech company. Earlier this year Schumer also called on the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a national security and privacy investigation into FaceApp, a face-editing photo app developed in Russia.
TikTok has been the subject of increasingly intense scrutiny from US lawmakers due to its Chinese roots. Senator Marco Rubio last month called for an investigation into the company after reports emerged that it was censoring content that it thought might displease the Chinese government.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has also launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co's $1 billion acquisition of US social media app Musical.ly.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company has previously emphasized its independence from China but has failed to assuage congressional concerns about the security of the personal data of US citizens who use the platform and whether content on the platform is subject to any censorship from Beijing.
ByteDance is one of China's fastest-growing startups. About 60% of TikTok's 26.5 million monthly active users in the United States are between the ages of 16 and 24, the company said this year. It explosive growth, particularly among younger demographics, has been seen as an existential threat to US tech companies, most notably Facebook.