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1 1 (March 29, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govelbj0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ____ ~ Research Service TikTok: Recent Data Privacy and National Security Concerns March 29, 2023 On March 23, 2023, TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, testified during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on TikTok's potential threats to data privacy, national security, and children's online safety. TikTok is a social media application (app) for creating and sharing short videos, with over 150 million users in the United States, according to TikTok estimates. TikTok Ltd., with headquarters in Los Angeles and Singapore, is a subsidiary of ByteDance Ltd., a privately held company headquartered in Beijing, China. Both TikTok Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd. are incorporated in the Cayman Islands, according to an updated corporate structure released on March 15, 2023. TikTok has faced scrutiny from policymakers for its potential privacy and national security risks. Critics allege the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) influences ByteDance and may control content shown to users or compel TikTok to turn over user data in accordance with various PRC laws that govern cyber and data security. TikTok has denied these allegations. Issues and Concerns Critics are concerned TikTok collects sensitive data on U.S. users and may enable the PRC government to conduct influence operations to shape public opinion. Technology companies operating in China- including ByteDance-are subject to the PRC's various cybersecurity and data security laws, which enable the government to compel data access and require data be stored and processed in China. In his testimony to Congress on March 23, 2023, TikTok's CEO stated allegations TikTok shares U.S. user data with the PRC are emphatically untrue. According to Chew, U.S. user data will be segregated from operations and employees in China through a $1.5 billion dollar company initiative called Project Texas. However, some critics have voiced skepticism about the project. Data Collection, Storage, and Access. Some critics argue TikTok's data collection is excessive, while others contend that its practices are similar to other social media companies, such as Facebook or Twitter. Some researchers claim any threat posed by TikTok is one that applies to all social media, regardless of the provider's national origin. TikTok has stated that all U.S. user data is now stored in U.S. and Singapore data centers. However, according to a 2022 Buzzfeed investigation, ByteDance employees in China repeatedly accessed nonpublic U.S. user data. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12131 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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