Here's why the feds have blocked TikTok from government-issued devices

Canada is removing TikTok from its federal employees’ government-issued mobile devices, starting today.

President of the Treasury Board Mona Fortier issued a statement on the matter on Monday.

“The Government of Canada is committed to keeping government information secure,” she said. “We regularly monitor our systems and take action to address risks.”

The action was prompted by a major review of TikTok by the chief information officer of Canada. The review determined that the mobile application “presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.”

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The app will not only be removed today, but federal employees will also not be allowed to download it to their government devices in the future.

In a statement, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat said the decision was a precautionary one, “particularly given concerns about the legal regime that governs the information collected from mobile devices, and is in line with the approach of our international partners.”

So far, nothing alarming has actually happened — no government information has been compromised.

But TikTok can gain significant access to your phone’s contents. Its data collection methods may be too intrusive for devices containing critical government information.

The broader public can continue using the app, but the Communications Security Establishment’s Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) guidance “strongly recommends” that Canadians make informed choices on the tools they use and keep risks in mind.