Congress Seeks New Law Against TikTok’s Access To National Data

In a bid to fight against potential data exploitation, representatives of the United States Government introduced the groundbreaking bill. This bill aims to safeguard the personal information of all residents of the United States. This bill concerns social media platforms such as Tik Tok. The bill targets foreign entity-owned applications and platforms. A bipartisan coalition of six senators and two House of Representatives members passed the bill. 

Chairman Ron Wyden championed this bill. Mr. Wyden is the chairman of the Senate finance committee. He is a Democrat and is known for his expertise on privacy issues. He has said that he aims to secure all American citizens’ privacy and digital sovereignty. The bill will cut off any connections to unfriendly nations and block platforms like TikTok from accessing American citizens’ personal information. 

A growing number of the American population relies on various social media platforms for entertainment, communication, and even a livelihood. Recently there have been widespread concerns about unauthorized access to data of American citizens,  exploitation, and misuse of it thereof. This legislation transcends party lines to prioritize individual privacy in the United States as well as national security.

What does this bill include?

It enforces stricter data protection standards.

• It will direct the Commerce Department of the United States to identify sensitive data.
• There will be greater scrutiny of foreign-owned organizations that operate within the territory of the United States. 
• It ultimately aims to increase privacy safeguards and thereby strengthen international alliances.
• This bill will also preserve the integrity and sovereignty of America’s digital landscape.

Many lawmakers are of the opinion Chinese-owned TikTok will have certain security risks by improperly using the data of 150 million American citizens to which it has access. 

Amidst all controversy, TikTok has stated that it has taken very serious measures to have unbreached data security. In the month of May, TikTok filed a lawsuit against the state of Montana. The suit contested Montana’s ban on the Chinese-owned video-sharing app. Therefore, the Congress of the United States passed the legislation to give the President the power to restrict the platform in case the court overturned the ban.