ByteDance finds four employees had accessed US journalists' TikTok data; fires them

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Content source

https://www.neowin.net/news/bytedance-finds-four-employees-had-accessed-us-journalists-tiktok-data-fires-them/

Slapping the charges of gross misconduct on four of its employees, ByteDance, the parent company of the video app TikTok has fired them all. The company found the employees guilty of accessing the user data of two US journalists secretly and without seeking their consent. Among the four people fired, two were in the United States and two in China. Of the two reporters whose data was accessed, one belonged to BuzzFeed News and the other works with Financial Times.

A spokesperson from ByteDance disclosed that it was a deliberate effort by its former employees to spy on reporters by looking for their IP addresses in an attempt to investigate leaks of company information and whether they were present at the same location as they had suspected while leaking it. This action was in complete violation of the company's policies and as such, the necessary step was taken.

The latest disclosure by the company also adds to its ongoing worries. Recently, the Chinese app was under the radar of lawmakers in Washington and the Biden administration over security concerns about U.S. user data.

Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States is set to pass legislation this week that seeks to ban U.S. government employees from downloading or using TikTok on their government-owned devices. The lawmakers continue to see it as a threat to U.S. national security. Even a dozen governors have restricted state employees from running the video hosting service on state-owned devices.

ByteDance finds four employees had accessed US journalists' TikTok data; fires them

An internal report from ByteDance reveals it has fired four employees for inappropriately accessing TikTok data of 2 U.S. journalists in an attempt to track down the source of information leaks.

www.neowin.net

 

[Stopspying]

ByteDance finds four employees had accessed US journalists' TikTok data; fires them

An internal report from ByteDance reveals it has fired four employees for inappropriately accessing TikTok data of 2 U.S. journalists in an attempt to track down the source of information leaks.

www.neowin.net

TikTok is banned on House-issued mobile devices in the US

An internal memo to staff claims the app is a security risk.

www.theverge.com

I wonder if it was hoped that the four people who were sacked would be sacrificial lambs to stop this this ban kicking in?