Tiktok has been fined approximately six billion Swedish kronor by the EU because the company, which is Chinese, has breached the strict data protection rules.
Within six months, Tiktok must both clarify to users how user data is handled and confirm that all data transfer to China ceases.
They must store some form of data, says David Lindahl, who researches cyber security at FOI, to TT.
And the benevolent interpretation is that they have better analysis systems in China and do not want to build analysis centers in Europe. Simply that they relay data and sell ads based on it.
Different Interpretations
But there is also a more hostile interpretation of why Tiktok stores data in China. An analysis that the company does not want to acknowledge.
The interpretation is that they use the material for such things that are not allowed, but it is extremely difficult to know.
Examples of unauthorized use of data can be to map the social platform's social networks.
The big job of mapping interesting individuals is to weed out all individuals who are uninteresting. We do not know what kind of data has been stored, but if it is, for example, personal messages or comments, it could be used to, for example, map the social networks of powerful individuals and what they think, says Lindahl.
"Interesting for a great power"
Such mapping can be likened to old-fashioned intelligence gathering.
They map interesting individuals and gather as much information as possible about them. What they like, who their friends are, where they go on vacation. It is things that a great power could be interested in keeping track of.
Tiktok's parent company Bytedance states that it will appeal the verdict.
