Austin’s Oracle nears deal to store TikTok’s US customer data

• Financial

In the face of a growing scrutiny on how the Chinese small video sharing app TikTok, has been storing its US customers’ data and whether there could be a potential breach of national security, the Chinese firm has been brewing off an option to seal a deal with Oracle Corp, which in effect will enable the ‘short video sharing’ platform to store its US users’ information into Oracle Cloud.

Besides, TikTok’s latest move to store its US customers’ data in Oracle Cloud also would prevent ByteDance’s access into the US users’ database, sources familiar with the subject-matter had unveiled on condition of anonymity of Thursday considering the sensitivity of the issue.

Besides, TikTok has been reportedly expecting that its latest move would address concerns from a US National Security Panel. Nonetheless, the approach comes along nearly a year and half after the committee of Foreign Investment in the US had ordered ByteDance to divest TikTok over frets that its US users’ data could be sent to the pro-CCP-backed Chinese Government.

However, a press agency report was quoted one of the sources as saying that it remained unclear on whether the CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) would set aside its concerns over the US nationals’ TikTok data even following a deal with the Oracle Cloud.

TikTok nears deal with Oracle cloud over storage of US users’ data

Apart from that, as TikTok looks to resolve its US users’ data privacy issue through cutting a deal with Oracle Cloud, sources said that a dedicated US data management team will be set up as a gatekeeper, which in effect would pull up a firewall in a bid to prevent ByteDance’s access into the US users’ data.

According to the sources, the team will not be under control or supervision of TikTok, meaning the TikTok shared data from US users would be open to US authorities that could intensify privacy concerns further. TikTok previously said it was storing its US users’ data in Singapore.