Minister for Cyber Security Clare O’Neil is warning Australians to be careful with providing their personal information to social media companies after TikTok revealed that local user data was accessible in mainland China. 

“Australians need to be mindful of the fact that they are sharing a lot of detailed information about themselves with apps that aren’t properly protecting that information,” she said. 

While TikTok states its data collection was to help the app function and improve user experience, research from cyber security firm Internet 2.0 found that it sought an excessive amount of information from its users at least once an hour.  

The data collected includes device mapping, location checks, calendar and contacts. It was also found that the app collected detailed information about the specifications of the user’s phone. 

The warning comes after Cyber Security Shadow Minister James Paterson sought clarification on the app’s local user data after a similar admission to US lawmakers, which was due to a viral video app disclosing that TikTok’s staff in China can access US user data through “approval protocols”. 

TikTok Australia replied to Shadow Minister Paterson’s letter, admitting that Australian user data was also accessible in mainland China.  

However, TikTok Australia’s Director of Public Policy Brent Thomas stated that there were strict protocols in place to protect Australian’s user data. 

“Australian user data is stored in Singapore and the United States. Our security teams minimize the number of people who have access to the data and limit it only to people who need this access to do their job,” he said. 

“We have policies and procedures that limit internal access by our employees to Australian user data, wherever they are, based on the needs.” 

He also quoted TikTok’s Chief Security Officer Roland Cloutier that they would never give Australian user data to the Chinese government. 

However, research from Internet2.0 revealed that the version of the TikTok app running on Apple devices “had a server connection to mainland China”. 

China’s National Intelligence Law of 2017 also requires organisations and citizens to “support, assist and co-operate with the state intelligence work”, allowing the Chinese government to request for the collected data for state interests. 

The Shadow Minister then urged Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil to take necessary steps to protect Australia’s 7 million TikTok users as there have been reports on links between the app’s parent company and the Chinese Communist Party. 

“TikTok denies they would ever hand over data to the Chinese Communist Party but this is very hard to believe given their national security laws,” Shadow Minister Paterson said in a tweet. 

“It’s time the Albanese government woke up and took action to protect the privacy of 7 million Australian users.” 

Eliza Sayon

Website | + posts

Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

• Developing an effective data ecosystem
• The journey of building an ecosystem through data
• NZ government strengthens data privacy laws against third parties
• eSafety Commissioner issues legal notice against Twitter