Dutch gov’t staff discouraged from apps such as TikTok

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Netherlands is moving to stop central government employees having apps including popular video sharing service TikTok installed on their work phones, amid concerns over data security. Countries including the United States and Britain, as well as the European Union’s executive branch, have banned TikTok from the phones of government staff over fears its Chinese owner, ByteDance, could share user data with the authoritarian government in Beijing. The Dutch government said Tuesday that national civil servants are discouraged from having apps on their mobile devices “from countries with an offensive cyber program against the Netherlands.” The statement did not identify TikTok by name. China is among the countries Dutch intelligence agency AIVD says has an offensive cyber program.