FCC Commissioner Demand the Removal of TikTok from App Store and Google Play

Brendan Carr, a commissioner of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, has called on Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app shops. This was reported by CNBC.

According to Carr, the social network secretly collects personal data and sends them to Beijing. He claims that TikTok has access to message drafts, browsing and search history, and keystroke combinations.

Moreover, Carr is convinced that the social network has data such as biometric identifiers, text, images and videos stored on the mobile device's clipboard:

"TikTok is not what it appears to be on the surface. It is not just an app for sharing funny videos or meme. That’s the sheep’s clothing,” he said in the letter. “At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data."

For this reason, the FCC commissioner has sent an official letter to Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai. It is reported that Apple and Google have until 8 July to respond to the letter from the head of the Commission.

By the way, TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, which has become "the subject of intense US scrutiny under Donald Trump". It is thanks to Trump that Brendan Carr took office in 2018.