Brussels (EFE) personal, community sources confirmed to Efe today.
The suspension of this application on smartphones and tablets of the European Parliament will apply from March 20, they specified.
“The TikTok app, once downloaded and installed on these devices, should be uninstalled as soon as possible,” the sources stressed.
At the same time, Parliament “strongly” advises MEPs and staff to remove TikTok from their personal devices.
This decision has been made by the European Parliament in view of the “cybersecurity concerns”, in particular with regard to data protection and the collection of data by third parties.
As of March 20, in addition, web access to TikTok through the PE corporate network will also be blocked, which implies corporate desktop computers and laptops.
The European Parliament recalled that TikTok is not part of the standard configuration of the institution’s corporate devices, and noted that it continually reviews its cybersecurity measures in close collaboration with the other EU institutions.
The sources added that the European Parliament “constantly” monitors cybersecurity threats and actions that can be used for cyberattacks against its corporate environment.
Thus, the competent services of the institution also “supervise and evaluate all possible data violations” related to TikTok and other similar applications.
It joins other institutions such as the Commission or the Council
On February 23, the European Commission (EC) and the Council of the European Union (EU) announced that they will dispense with TikTok on their official mobile devices, at a time when they want to better protect security against the increase in cyber attacks.
After learning last week of the decision of the community Executive, TikTok requested a meeting with those responsible to “set the record straight” about its own security measures.
As the company said in a statement, it was “surprised” that the institution had not previously contacted them or “offered any explanation.”
Brussels has been focusing its attention on TikTok and the rest of the big technology companies for some time, and in this context, in January he met with the CEO of the Chinese company, Shou Zi Chew, whom he threatened to ban its use in the European Union. if it does not prevent minors from having access to potentially deadly videos” and if it does not prevent user data from being transferred to third countries.
The European institutions are thus following in the footsteps of the United States, where Congress has prohibited legislators and their employees from installing the application on their official phones, and where several States and academic institutions have taken similar measures.
Canada, for its part, announced on Tuesday a ban on federal employees using the app on official cell phones for posing an “unacceptable” risk to their privacy and security.
