TikTok taps cyber security chief from ADP

[BENGALURU] Social media app TikTok said on Thursday it had hired cyber security expert Roland Cloutier from payroll processing company ADP as its chief information security officer.

Mr Cloutier will report to TikTok's chief Alex Zhu in the newly created role, making him the most senior official in charge of cybersecurity.

TikTok's handling of personal data has come under scrutiny from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Reuters reported last year.

"As TikTok grows and serves an ever-larger, more diverse global community, we have a clear responsibility to continue to maximize security on our platform. We are thrilled to have a recognised global expert and leader like Roland to help us deliver on that promise," Mr Zhu said in a statement.

At ADP, Mr Cloutier served as chief security officer, helping ensure that confidential personal information handled by the company remained secure. He worked for ADP for 10 years.

Mr Cloutier previously spent over a decade serving in the US Air Force, Department of Defence and Department of Veterans Affairs.

TikTok is owned by Chinese technology giant ByteDance. ByteDance is seeking to provide assurances to CFIUS that personal data held by TikTok, which is widely popular with US teenagers, is stored securely in the United States and will not be compromised by Chinese authorities.

US lawmakers have also called for a national security probe into TikTok, expressing concern that the Chinese company may be censoring politically sensitive content, and raising questions about how it stores personal data.

REUTERS