TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23, to discuss the app’s data security and privacy practices, impact on children and relationships relations with the Chinese government.
According to Engadget , this is Chew’s first appearance before a congressional committee. Previously, another company executive, Vanessa Pappas , also faced similar questions from US lawmakers in September 2022.
In her statement, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers said TikTok had knowingly allowed the Chinese government the ability to access US user data. US users need to know how these actions affect their privacy and data security, and what action TikTok is taking to keep kids safe from harm online and offline.
TikTok’s security and ties to the Chinese government have come to the attention of US officials over the past few years. However, discussions between the US and TikTok appear to have stalled as officials remain concerned about the possibility of TikTok the Chinese government forcing to hand over user data.
The company tried to assuage concerns from US regulators and officials on by storing US user data in the US Oracle servers and deleting it from TikTok’s own servers. in the US and Singapore. Oracle has been reviewing TikTok ‘s content moderation algorithms and models for signs of interference from the Chinese government.
News of Chew’s appearance before the US Congress came on Data Privacy Day. In a blog post, TikTok announced a number of efforts to strengthen user privacy, including plans to set up a data center in Dublin (Ireland) this year to store data. of UK and EU users.