Phu Yen Online - Czech: Universities call for uninstalling TikTok to ensure security

* TikTok faces legal pressure over child abuse in Portugal

Universities in the Czech Republic are urging faculty, staff and students to uninstall the short video sharing app TikTok from devices used to connect to the school network.

The call was made based on a warning from the Czech Republic's National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NUKIB) that TikTok poses security threats.

According to a VNA correspondent in Prague, Charles University, the largest, oldest and most famous university in the Czech Republic, has called on its employees to remove the TikTok app from all work devices connected to the school's Internet network. This is also a measure being implemented by many other schools.

The Prague University of Economics went even further, banning all administrators and senior staff from using TikTok on work-related electronic devices.

Brno University of Technology also banned employees from using the social networking app on university devices.

In addition to calling on students to uninstall TikTok from their desktops, laptops, mobile phones and tablets, some other schools, such as Mendel University in Brno, have sent out recommendations to staff and students explaining that when TikTok is installed, it automatically collects data from call history, location and even contacts on electronic devices.

Many universities in the Czech Republic have long used TikTok accounts to promote themselves, but after NUKIB's recommendation, schools such as Masaryk University and Pardubice University are now having to gradually cancel their TikTok accounts.

On March 8, NUKIB issued a warning about the risk of cyber security in the Czech Republic due to the installation and use of the Chinese social networking application TikTok.

According to the agency, TikTok collects a wide range of information about users and it is unclear who has access to that data.

Based on this warning, government agencies in the Czech Republic have taken the lead in banning employees from using the TikTok app on electronic devices used for work.

* Portugal-based consumer protection organization Ius Omnibus sued short video sharing app TikTok for allegedly allowing children under 13 to register accounts without parental consent, and failing to take measures to protect children.

In a statement, the Ius Omnibus organization stressed that TikTok has exploited the “particular vulnerability” of children to profit from children under 13.

While TikTok has age restrictions, the app does not take steps to prevent users under 13 from registering for accounts.

Ius Omnibus also found that TikTok's collection and processing of children's personal data violates the Portuguese constitution, the European Union's general data protection regulation and unfair commercial practices laws.

Accordingly, this organization asked a court in the capital Lisbon to intervene to stop TikTok's illegal actions and compensate those affected.

In a separate lawsuit, Ius Omnibus said users over the age of 13 were also victims of illegal business practices and personal data was used without the full consent of the users.

According to Ius Omnibus, this exposes children to moral, psychological and physical dangers, as well as threats to the safety and health, as well as the privacy of children and their families. TikTok has not commented on the above information. However, a TikTok representative emphasized that the company considers the protection of users and user data to be of the utmost importance.

The move comes just a day after the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) - the UK's data watchdog - announced it had fined TikTok £12.7 million ($15.9 million) for breaching data protection laws, including using personal data of children under 13 without parental consent.

Recently, the governments of Australia, the US, France and many other Western countries have issued bans on the use of the TikTok application owned by the Chinese corporation ByteDance on official devices due to concerns about risks to national security.

T.LE (compiled from VNA/Vietnam+)

Source