Canada will ban video app TikTok from all government-issued devices starting Tuesday.
The decision follows a review by Canada’s chief information officer, and the app “poses an unacceptable risk to privacy and security,” a government spokesman said in a statement.
A TikTok spokesman said the company was disappointed with the decision.
It comes just days after the European Commission announced a similar ban.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were enough security concerns around the app to call for the change.
“This could be the first step, this could be the only step we have to take,” he said at a news conference near Toronto on Monday.
TikTok has been criticized for using personal data and ties to the Chinese government.
The short-form video app is owned by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd.
US federal employees were banned from using TikTok late last year, and a number of American universities have also banned the app from using their networks. Broader public bans have been introduced in India and several other Asian countries.
The company insists Chinese government officials have no access to user data and that a Chinese version of the app is separate from that used in the rest of the world. But last year, the company admitted that some employees in China can access European users’ data.
The ban on employees of the European Commission is scheduled to come into force on March 15.
Canadian privacy regulators are also investigating TikTok over user data concerns, specifically whether the company seeks “valid and meaningful” consent from users when collecting personal data.
In a statement, Mona Fortier, Canada’s Treasury Secretary, said the government was “committed to the security of government information.”
The app will be removed from state-issued phones and other devices this week and blocked from downloads going forward.
“On a mobile device, TikTok’s data collection methods provide significant access to the phone’s content,” Ms. Fortier said. “While the risks of using this application are clear, at this time we have no evidence that government information has been compromised.”
The state’s Chief Information Officer serves on the Treasury Board, which oversees the federal government’s operations.
In a statement, a company spokesman said the ban on government-issued devices came “without naming specific security concerns related to TikTok or contacting us to discuss concerns before making that decision.”
“We are always willing to meet with our government officials to discuss how we are protecting the privacy and security of Canadians, but exposing TikTok in this way does nothing to help achieve that common goal,” the spokesperson said.
“All it does is prevent officials from reaching out to the public on a platform loved by millions of Canadians.”
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