DIGITAL LIFE

Oracle audits TikTok operations to protect US user data from Chinese dictatorial government

TikTok has often come under scrutiny from US lawmakers and users with concerns that user data was being transmitted to and accessed by servers in China. With TikTok's popularity exploding in recent years, user data and platform privacy have been widely discussed.

In a new report, Axios learned that Oracle is conducting an audit of TikTok's operations. Specifically, Oracle is reviewing TikTok's feed algorithm and content moderation models "to ensure they are not manipulated by Chinese authorities."

During the Trump administration, TikTok faced a ban unless it sold its US assets to US companies Walmart and Oracle. After a judge blocked the ban on TikTok, the ban dropped and TikTok even reached a partnership with Oracle to operate on its cloud infrastructure.

Since June, TikTok has been routing data from US users through Oracle – but only after a report by BuzzFeed revealed that Chinese engineers at ByteDance were accessing private data from US TikTok users.

The popularity of TikTok has changed the landscape among popular social apps. It also led YouTube and Instagram to adopt their own versions of TikTok videos (Shorts and Reels, respectively).

mundophone