The head of the foreign intelligence agency for Canada yesterday strongly cautioned app users against using the fast-growing social media app TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese. They claim the country’s government is trying to use the platform to obtain personal data.
David Vigneault, the Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), revealed to the CBC that if he had his way, he would definitely not allow anyone to use TikTok because the Chinese government is using it to collect information about people around the world as part of a broader agenda.
“[The Canadian Security Intelligence Service] Director [Reenear Vigneault] gave the following answer to the question ‘What is the hidden agenda of the Chinese government?’…They try to obtain any information from around the globe, whether personalized or business-related”.
The chief legislator of CSIS had warned that the Chinese government’s end game was just to protect the interests of the Communist Party, collecting what they called the “big data analytics” and “artificial intelligence” of TikTok, which has millions of users.
Vigneault has spoken a week after several states, including the U.S., have forbidden the app from their government devices, considering it can help China observe the users and run information campaigns.
Moving back to the previous year, Canada banned TikTok on government equipment, that is, its devices, because of the privacy and security risks the app was posing. “I think this move was very astute”, said Vigneault, pointing out that he would be taking up the role of National counsel and security review advisor into the app review.
