TikTok's Irish data center up and running as European privacy project gets under way
TikTok says operations have started at the first of its three European data centers, part of the popular Chinese owned app’s project to ease Western fears about privacy risks
LONDON (AP) — TikTok said Tuesday that operations are underway at the first of its three European data centers, part of the popular Chinese owned app's effort to ease Western fears about privacy risks.
The video sharing app said it began transferring European user information to a data center in Dublin. Two more data centers, another in Ireland and one in Norway, are under construction, TikTok said in an update on its plan to localize European user data, dubbed Project Clover.
TikTok has been under scrutiny by European and American regulators over concerns that sensitive user data may end up in China. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020.
TikTok unveiled its plan earlier this year to store data in Europe, where there are stringent privacy laws, after a slew of Western governments banned the app from official devices.