TikTok: Setting New Standards in Data Security
Theo Bertram, TikTok’s Vice President of Public Policy for Europe, & Stephen Bailey, NCC Groups Global Director of Privacy
| TikTok
Every day each of us shares data about ourselves with hundreds of touch points, whether that’s buying a coffee, getting on and off the Tube, or visiting a website. People rightly want to know that their data is being kept safe, and that they can trust what companies say they are doing to keep data secure.
TikTok is a company that has been under more scrutiny than most and to address these questions, is taking a unique step. TikTok is subjecting its data security procedures to independent scrutiny, checks and oversight from third-party cybersecurity experts.
TikTok, one of the world’s leading video sharing platforms, has chosen NCC Group, one of the world’s leading cybersecurity companies, to be the independent security provider for Project Clover - an industry-leading data security initiative.
With Project Clover, TikTok is building a reinforced protective environment around its European data, including data belonging to the millions of UK users who come to the app every day to learn new hobbies and skills or build their businesses.
Key planks of Project Clover include building three data centres, two in Ireland and one in Norway, to store European and UK user data in the region, the first of which is already up and running, building additional security barriers around that data, and for NCC Group to independently check and verify these procedures.
NCC Group works on cyber security and resilience, advising companies including financial institutions, critical national infrastructure providers and governments on assessing and managing cyber and data security and building resilience against a fast-changing, ever evolving threat landscape.
Headquartered in the UK but working globally, NCC is a National Cyber Security Centre approved penetration testing company and cyber incident response provider.
NCC Group will provide independent checks and monitoring of TikTok’s European data security measures and audit its data controls and protections, monitor data flows, provide independent verification and report any incidents.
NCC will provide multiple security services, including 24/7, 365 days a year monitoring of the security barriers being built around TikTok’s European and UK data, and security assessments of the TikTok platform itself. NCC Group can also meet with regulators and government agencies independently of TikTok.
For TikTok, these controls and operations are designed to ensure that the data of its European and UK users is safeguarded in a reinforced protective environment, and can only be accessed by approved employees subject to strict independent oversight and verification.
NCC’s objective scrutiny, monitoring and assurance means TikTok users in Europe and the UK can have confidence in the enhanced data security standards that TikTok is setting, which go above and beyond European regulatory requirements. We believe this innovative project will set new standards for European data security, and is a strong endorsement of the UK’s world-leading cyber security sector.
Find out more about Project Clover here.
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