Ministers plan to ban TikTok from government devices after intelligence services warn the Chinese-owned platform could be used for spying

• Government sources claim GCHQ has found risks around ‘sensitive information’
• It comes after a major review of Britain’s defence, security and foreign policy  

Ministers are planning to ban TikTok from Government devices after the intelligence services raised fears that the Chinese-owned platform could be used by hostile foreign powers for spying purposes.

Government sources say experts at GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre ‘identified risks around the safety of sensitive information’.

It comes as a major review of defence, security and foreign policy – expected to be announced tomorrow – is understood to be planning to describe the threat posed by China as the UK’s primary security concern.

Security experts have grown increasingly concerned about the data-mining algorithms used by TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance.

Under the British plans, Government employees will be allowed to keep the video-sharing app on their personal phones, but ‘discouraged’ from doing so. The move comes after similar bans were introduced by America and the EU.

Security experts have grown increasingly concerned about the data-mining algorithms used by TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance

Last year, ByteDance admitted some staff in China can access the data of European users. But it has reacted to the bans by describing them as ‘political theatre’ and said it was ‘disappointing to see that Government bodies and institutions are banning TikTok on employee devices with no deliberation or evidence’.

It added: ‘These bans are based on basic misinformation about our company, and we are readily available to meet with officials to set the record straight about our ownership structure and our commitment to privacy and data security.

‘We share a common goal with Governments that are concerned about user privacy, but these bans are misguided and do nothing to further privacy or security.’

US officials have raised concerns that the Chinese government could pressure ByteDance to hand over users’ personal information, which could then be exploited for intelligence or disinformation purposes.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has accused Washington of ‘generalising the concept of national security’ and ‘unreasonably suppressing enterprises of other countries’.

In 2020, Ministers announced that Chinese technology company Huawei would be removed from the UK’s 5G networks by 2027.

Last week, The Mail on Sunday revealed how Chinese Hikvision surveillance cameras were being used at Sandringham and at least five Government departments, months after Ministers ordered their removal from sensitive sites on national security grounds.

Hikvision, a company controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, denies handing any footage to the Chinese Government and says it complies with UK laws.

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