February 11, 2023
Members of parliament, senators and their staff have been warned about installing apps “such as TikTok” on parliamentary and personal devices following media reports about app data security.
An email from the Department of Parliamentary Services on Friday afternoon titled “aware of app data security” urged MPs, senators and staff to carefully consider installing apps “following recent media reports regarding apps such as TikTok”.
“Privacy settings on apps can be overly permissive or may contain security vulnerabilities that can allow access to information on your device,” the email said.
“Consider the country of origin in which the app development company is located, including the government use of data in those countries.”
The email also urged the consideration of the terms and conditions of apps that may describe how data can be used or sent to third parties or government agencies.
“Examine the default privacy settings to ensure you limit access to your data or permission to access cameras and microphones. Use only secure and reputable apps from an official app store. Routinely check and remove apps you no longer use,” it warned.
Liberal senator James Paterson, who raised the security issues with the department at the last round of senate estimates, said he was happy “they have now provided much clearer advice about the security risks posed of apps like TikTok, and have directly named them in doing so”.
“They are absolutely right to identify the country of origin, the government use of data in those countries and to note that it may be shared with government agencies.”
Governments are concerned about data collection by US and Chinese social media companies. The Western intelligence community is particularly concerned about TikTok, links between its parent company ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and China’s wide-reaching National Intelligence Law.
TikTok denies any data can be accessed by the CCP and says it has robust security protocols over who can access it.
A TikTok spokesperson said: “We understand these restrictions apply to a range of social media and messaging apps, not just TikTok.”
A spokesman for the department said, “In light of recent media reporting it was important for the department to provide some clarity for our parliamentary network users.”
DPS’s advice follows similar recommendations to MPs in New Zealand last year.
The Australian Financial Review reported on analysis by Canberra-based cybersecurity and intelligence firm Internet 2.0 that revealed TikTok checks its users’ device location at least once an hour; continuously requests access to contacts even if the user originally denies; maps a device’s running apps and all installed apps; and more as part of broad permissions asked of users.
Facebook has faced intense scrutiny in recent years over its excessive data collection, privacy breaches and nefarious uses of the data it collects from users by third-party platforms. Facebook Messenger was singled out by OpenDemocracy for its excessive data collection, which included name, email, location, user ID, iMessage, photos and videos, health and fitness, and more.
UK-based consulting firm Cambridge Analytica infamously used data from Facebook for political profiling ahead of the 2016 US presidential election. In early 2020, the Australian information commissioner and privacy commissioner began court action against Facebook over potential breaches of privacy related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal from 2018.
In July 2022, TikTok admitted Australian user data could be accessed by the staff in mainland China in a letter, revealed by the Financial Review, to Senator Paterson.
“This is a welcome recognition that apps like TikTok headquartered in authoritarian countries like China pose a unique risk to Australians. It brings DPS into line with other similar parliaments around the world like New Zealand or the United States who clearly warn and even ban TikTok from parliamentary devices,” Mr Paterson said.
“Now we must extend protections to the millions of other Australians who use these apps, something I will pursue through the Senate Select Committee on Foreign Interference Through Social Media.”
