According to a legal filing by a former executive at ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, members of the Chinese Communist Party used the company's data to track and locate Hong Kong protesters. The former executive also claims that these individuals had access to data from U.S. users, which ByteDance denies.
Yintao Yu, who was once in charge of engineering for ByteDance in the United States, has accused the company of having a "superuser" credential, which allowed a group of Chinese Communist Party members stationed within the company to access all data, including that of American users, as reported by APNews.
Yu made these claims in a court filing related to a wrongful dismissal case he filed in May with the San Francisco Superior Court.
According to the document, the credential served as a means to bypass ByteDance's supposed security measures and allowed CCP to access data without detection.
Hong Kong is a region in China that has its own government but is also controlled by Beijing. There have been protests in recent years and Beijing has increasingly exerted its influence over the region.
The god credential is being used to monitor protesters and civil rights activists in Hong Kong by tracking their locations, devices, network information, SIM cards, IP addresses, and communications.
TikTok Denies the Allegations
ByteDance released a statement denying the accusations made by Mr. Yu, stating that they were unfounded. The company found it strange that Mr. Yu never raised these concerns during his five-year tenure at Flipagram, which was terminated in July 2018. Furthermore, ByteDance mentioned that Mr. Yu's actions seemed to be aimed at attracting media attention.
Yu's lawyer, Charles Jung, who is a partner at Nassiri & Jung law firm, stated that Yu decided to speak out about his allegations because he was disturbed by the recent Congressional testimony of TikTok's CEO, Shou Zi Chew.
Chew denied that Chinese authorities had access to user data. Yu believes in telling the truth, even if it's risky, as social change requires courage. He is determined to share his story to ensure public policy is based on accurate information.
Yu, in a previous legal document, claimed that ByteDance was assisting the Chinese Communist Party by promoting nationalistic content and suppressing content that did not align with the party's objectives.
He also alleged that ByteDance was complying with requests from the Communist Party to share information. Additionally, Yu accused ByteDance of scraping content from competitors and users to boost its engagement metrics. He asserts that he was terminated because he shared his concerns about what he perceived as "unlawful behavior" with his colleagues.
TikTok Under Heavy Scrutiny
TikTok is currently facing close examination, both in the United States and globally, with regard to its data management practices and potential threats to national security.
Some American lawmakers are worried about the fact that TikTok is affiliated with ByteDance, which could mean that the data they possess is subject to Chinese law. Additionally, lawmakers believe that TikTok, boasting over 150 million active users in the U.S. and more than one billion worldwide, could be utilized to further China's influence.
In a tense hearing in March, members of Congress questioned Chew, the head of TikTok, about the company's connection to Beijing, the safety of user data, and harmful content on the platform.
Chew denied any sharing of user data or ties to the Chinese government. In an effort to ease concerns, TikTok announced it would partner with Oracle to store all U.S. data within the country.
Related article: TikTok CEO To US Legislators: Company Is Not China's 'Agent'
