ByteDance-owned TikTok wants to convince European governments that it is an industry leader in data protection, rather than a Chinese-owned app that warrants the wave of bans across the continent.
The company outlined plans on Wednesday to build three European data centers to store information on TikTok¡¯s 150 million users in the region locally with the help of an independent third company that will oversee data access controls. Once operational, the data centers will cost the company €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) annually.
Similar to the company¡¯s Project Texas in the U.S., TikTok¡¯s Project Clover is meant to assure concerned governments that the Chinese Communist Party cannot access Europeans¡¯ data either through the front door, via official legal requests, or back door. It follows the White House endorsement on Tuesday of a bipartisan bill that could give the president authority to ban or force a sale of TikTok.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.