Hamilton police follow City in TikTok suspension on work phones

Hamilton police are the latest officials to join the long list of those suspending the use of the video-sharing application TikTok on work mobile phones due to potential security risks.

Starting today, the application will be removed from all police devices and activity on the force’s account will be paused.

This comes just three days after City of Hamilton officials decided to ban the app on city-issued phones.

READ MORE: City of Hamilton bans TikTok on work phones pending federal probe

Worries over the app stem from the fact that the Chinese government has a stake in TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, and laws allow the country to have access to user data.

The company that owns TikTok maintains that it does not share data with China’s government and its data is not held in that country.

Federal and provincial privacy commissioners began investigating the social media platform at the end of February, but there is no evidence that government information has been compromised.

READ MORE: Ontario also considers TikTok ban on government-issued devices

The bans are a precautionary measure, and similar bans have been issued in the US and the European Union on work-issued devices as well.

Ontario is still allowing TikTok to be used on government-issued devices but says it is reviewing the matter.