In the wake of a recent move by the European Parliament, European Commission, and the EU Council to ask its staff to remove TikTok from their phones owing to security concerns, TikTok announced a new data security regime under which European user data will be stored locally.
The new data security regime has been nicknamed 'Project Clover'.
Last week, the US said government agencies have 30 days to delete TikTok from federal devices and systems. More than half of US states, Congress, and the European Union's executive branch have already prohibited it from devices used for official business amid worries that TikTok could be used to promote pro-Beijing views or sweep up users' information.
On Wednesday, the company said it will soon open a second data centre in Ireland and another in Norway, which will be operated by a third party.
“Tell us what the problems are, and then lets work together on the solutions. That's been our approach in the US, that's been our approach everywhere,” Reuters quoted a TikTok official as saying.
Our approach is very much open to governments, regulators, and experts to give us their counsel and advice on how we can do this even more effectively, the company said.