TikTok can still access data from Australian government devices via app on personal phones, academic warns

TikTok could still access information held on Australian government devices if public servants and politicians continue to use the app on their personal mobile devices, according to a legal academic from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Katharine Kemp, who focuses on consumer law and has researched a wide variety of privacy policies for digital apps, said the loophole could limit the effectiveness of the ban on TikTok from government devices.

Last week the federal attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, announced that federal public servants and politicians with government-issued phones must delete the Chinese-owned app from their devices as soon as possible, and would not be permitted to install it except in limited circumstances.

Last week the government faced criticism from the Greens for focusing on TikTok alone rather than the privacy concerns of all social media apps. Kemp said in order for the TikTok ban to be effective, the government would also need to ban data-matching between the apps.

The opposition spokesperson on cybersecurity, senator James Paterson, said the government ban was the first step.

The move to ban TikTok from government devices followed similar bans in other parts of the world including the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. The latter is contemplating a nationwide ban on the app.

TikTok this week quietly launched an app for select Android-based TVs in Australia.