by Amazon directed its employees via email to uninstall the TikTok app from their mobile devices due to ongoing security and privacy concerns…
Last week, e-commerce giant Amazon sent out an email to its employees mandating they remove the TikTok app from their smartphones and other mobile devices. This, after the Chinese-backed app was discovered recording users’ keystrokes, as it ran in the background, siphoning data from other programs.
Amazon Orders Employees to Delete TikTok Over Security Concerns
Although TikTok isn’t the only mobile application to record users’ keyboard activity (Reddit and LinkedIn among them), TikTok is considered a security risk. This, for a number of reasons. Principally, due to the belief the Chinese communist party is receiving the collected information.
Due to these reasons, the United States government is seriously considering banning TikTok across the country. Late last year, the US military branches banned the app over the same concerns. Now, Amazon has done the same. The email, obtained and independently published by multiple people on Twitter, reads in-part:
“Due to security risks, the TikTok app is no longer permitted on mobile devices that access Amazon email. If you have TikTok on your device, you must remove it by 10-Jul to retain mobile access to Amazon email. At this time, using TikTok from your Amazon laptop browser is allowed.”
Hours after the email became public through various news reports, the company reversed its decision. Amazon stated later the staff memo was “sent in error.”
