In March, TikTok announced the opening of two new data centers, one in Ireland and one in Norway, with an announced annual investment of €1.2 billion. The company has now opened its first data center in Ireland as part of the Clover project. TikTok is criticized for its ties to China, but is trying to convince the EU authorities of the complete security of user data.

How TikTok explains its lack of ties to China

TikTok has over a billion users worldwide and over 150 million in Europe, and officials have repeatedly stated that they have NO ties to China.

​”We ​​are not a Chinese company, and the Chinese authorities do not pressure us in any way regarding data or content moderation,” a TikTok Europe official said in March.

“The relationship between TikTok and ByteDance is similar to the relationship between YouTube and Google. ByteDance is the parent company, we say it’s a global company, I know some call it a Chinese company. 60% of ByteDance shares are owned by global investors such as KKR or Sequoia, investors who also own shares in other technology companies with which we compete. 20% of the shares are owned by the employees, and another 20% are owned by the founders of the company,” explained Theo Bertram, Vice President of Government Relations at TikTok Europe.

What TikTok is saying now about the data center and the Clover project

Data storage

TikTok has committed to storing European users’ data locally by default, creating three new data centers in Europe. TikTok’s first data center in Dublin, Ireland is up and running and the migration of European user data has already begun. Two other centers are under construction in Norway and Ireland.

Third-party supervisor

TikTok hired a third-party European security company to independently audit data controls and protections, monitor data flows, provide independent verification and report any incidents. The platform is pleased to announce that NCC Group will oversee TikTok’s data security measures.

NCC Group is a long-established, globally recognized cyber security company with offices in Europe, including Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark and the UK. Teams from several European countries and Great Britain will work on this program. NCC Group is TIBER-EU accredited and a CHECK approved company by the UK’s National Cyber ​​Security Center (NCSC).

Additional controls for data protection

As an independent security provider, NCC Group will monitor data entering and leaving a secure environment to independently verify that only approved personnel can access restricted types of data. NCC Group will conduct ongoing security assessments for the new security gateways that TikTok is building around European user data, the TikTok app, data centers and other TikTok infrastructure.

NCC Group will also act as a security service provider for TikTok’s security gateways, perform real-time monitoring to detect and respond to any suspicious access attempts, and provide assurances of the integrity of security control operations. NCC Group will review whether network traffic for European TikTok user data must pass through security gateways.