Back in 2020, it felt like TikTok’s days of operating in the US was numbered as the administration back then wanted to ban the app. However, they did offer a compromise in which ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, could sell off TikTok to a US based company. Several companies were considered, but nothing was finalized.However, it seems that with the current administration, they might be going down a different path and TikTok’s sale to a US company has been put on hold. This is according to a report from The Wall Street Journal in which they say that the Biden administration will continue to put the sale on hold while they explore potential options regarding how they approach data security.
The report claims that US national security officials have been in talks with ByteDance and are exploring how data collected from American users can be protected, and how it can be done in such a way that the Chinese government will not be able to access it.
According to National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne, “We plan to develop a comprehensive approach to securing U.S. data that addresses the full range of threats we face. This includes the risk posed by Chinese apps and other software that operate in the U.S. In the coming months, we expect to review specific cases in light of a comprehensive understanding of the risks we face.”