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The state of New Jersey is prohibiting a range of Chinese apps from government devices. The Chinese companies affected by the ban include the makers of TikTok ByteDance, Tencent Holdings LTD, and Alibaba Group.
The ban comes as part of a nationwide trend to remove Chinese software from government-issued devices over security concerns. The governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, said,
Bolstering cybersecurity is critical to protecting the overall safety and welfare of our State. The proactive and preventative measures that we are implementing today will ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and safety of information assets managed by New Jersey State government. This decisive action will ensure the cybersecurity of the State is unified against actors who may seek to divide us.
The ban means that any users of any state-owned or managed devices must remove any software listed in the directive, and network-based security restrictions must be implemented to prevent unauthorized software from being used.
Also included in the directive is the requirement to develop and implement training programs on cybersecurity awareness for high-risk software and supply chains.
Chinese Software is a National Security Risk
New Jersey’s Chief Technology Officer, Christopher Rein, has said,
New Jersey’s policy to remove certain software from State-owned or managed devices, inclusive of TikTok, deemed as high risk of potential data loss or privacy issues is part of our statewide cyber risk management program. This follows in line with a number of actions taken by government and private sector enterprises and is consistent with some of the risk reduction steps taken at the Federal and State levels
He further went on to say:
The New Jersey Office of Information Technology will work diligently alongside NJCCIC to maintain cybersecurity across state government. With the growing popularity of TikTok, which is known to have privacy and security vulnerabilities and presents national security concerns, it’s critical that we implement measures to prohibit and shield against the unwanted access of our data.
The Chinese companies listed in the ban maintain that they’ve never shared user data with the Chinese government, and nor will they ever. However, the over-the-top permissions required by the apps are a concern for security experts.
TikTok has been reported to take regular screen captures and record keystrokes of users. This can reveal passwords for all applications used on the phone to TikTok and severely compromises device security.
While these apps may be banned on US government-issued devices, they’re still in prolific use, with a reported 87 million TikTok users in the US.
Concerns are also not just linked to security. Many researchers link the use of TikTok to issues with mental health and argue that algorithms promote unhealthy and criminal behavior.
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Stephania Center