TikTok has been formally banned on all devices owned and operated by the U.S. House of Representatives.
A law specifying the ban on the app is reportedly about to take effect, according to the administration branch of the House.
According to Reuters, the House’s Chief Administrative Officer stated that TikTok posed a “high danger due to a number of security vulnerabilities” and that the software needs to be removed from smartphones in a memo issued to members and staff.
The prohibition comes after a nearly $1.7 trillion USD omnibus budget measure that specifies how government funding would be distributed over the coming year was approved.
The proposed No TikTok on Government Devices Act, which would mandate lawmakers and workers to remove the app from government devices by mid-February, was included in the 4,155-page measure.
Before the bill was passed, TikTok, which is owned by the Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd, was already partially or completely prohibited from being used on devices that belonged to the government in 19 states.
Republican legislators are worried about the app’s security vulnerabilities since it might be used to track and gather user data.
While this is going on, TikTok has been trying to allay these worries since June by sending its American data through domestic Oracle servers.
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Chief Administrative Officer has issued a cyber advisory on TikTok, labeling it “high-risk” with personal info accessed from inside China:
