TikTok unveils European data security plan amid calls for US ban

TikTok has announced a data security regime for protecting user information across Europe, as political pressure increases in the US to ban the social video app.

The plan, known as Project Clover, involves user data being stored on servers in Ireland and Norway at an annual cost of ¤1.2bn (£1.1bn), while any data transfers outside Europe will be vetted by a third-party IT company.

TikTok is under pressure in the US and Europe over its links to China via its Beijing-based parent, ByteDance.

TikTok, which stores its global user data in the US and Singapore, has denied its data or algorithms can be accessed or manipulated by the Chinese government.

TikTok had said it would store data in two servers in Ireland but announced on Wednesday that it would also use a datacentre in Norway for the same purpose under Project Clover. The use of the Irish and Norwegian data servers will cost TikTok ¤1.2bn a year.

However, the UK has ruled out similar moves despite lobbying from Conservative politicians, including the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith. Michelle Donelan, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, said last month there were no grounds for a ban.