TikTok chief says China never asks for data of Indian users

TikTok was made unavailable to Indian mobile users few days back. And the ByteDance-owned company has been accused of sharing data of Indian users with China. But TikTok has reportedly tried to distance itself from being a Chinese brand, and positions as a global company. It has also mentioned that even if China asks for data, they would never hand it over.

In its letter to the Indian government, Kevin Mayer Chief Executive Officer, TikTok also highlighted that China has never asked for user data. He pointed out that data of Indian users is stored on servers in Singapore. “I can confirm that the Chinese government has never made a request to us for the TikTok data of Indian users. “If we do ever receive such a request in the future, we would not comply,” Mayer added.

And it seems TikTok is raising strong voice highlighting its efforts to develop organically in India. The company has also talked about employing people in the country, and localising its platform to cater to wide range of consumers. “The privacy of our users, and the security and sovereignty of India, are of utmost importance to us,” Mayer wrote. “We have already announced our plans to build a data centre in India.”

TikTok and 58 Chinese apps banned in India

The Indian government has banned around 59 apps originating from China. The list of the 59 apps includes some rather popular ones. And TikTok is one of the biggest names added to the list. Other popular ones include UC Browser, WeChat, Shein, WeChat, Shareit, Cam Scanner, and Mobile Legends. Intelligence sources quoted in multiple reports says the apps were violating the terms of usage, user privacy and being used a spyware.

Since then, we have seen demand for India-based social media apps grow exponentially. You have brands like Chingari, Roposo which claim to be TikTok-alternative.