According to the Associated Press, North Dakota Governor, Doug Burgum, banned the social media app, TikTok from devices owned by the state government's executive branch.
Burgum signed an executive order yesterday (Tuesday, December 13th).
Security concerns led Burgum to the decision, and he's not alone. Maryland, Texas, South Dakota, and Utah governors have also banned the app.
TikTok representatives issued a statement, saying they are disappointed that so many states are taking these measures.
If You Don't Know: TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, called ByteDance.
According to nd.gov, Gov. Burgum said, "Protecting citizens' data is our top priority, and our IT professionals have determined, in consultation with federal officials, that TikTok raises multiple red flags in terms of the amount of data it collects, and how that data may be shared and used by the Chinese government."
An FBI Warning
The concern comes after the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a warning to those using the app last month, according to nd.gov.
According to npr.org, TikTok had 1 billion active users as of September of 2021.
Will More States Take Similar Action?
I can't imagine this would be a huge issue for those using state-owned electronics, as most people don't download those types of things on their work devices, but what do I know?
In any case, I'm sure we will see more and more states adopt this policy as time goes on.
Do We Give Too Much Away?
This topic comes up a lot and we tend to go in circles. Are we giving away too much information to these tech companies? — Probably.
Should we be hesitant accepting permissions? — Probably
Even though we should be more concerned, many of us still choose to use the apps and accept the terms of use.
Is this partly due to the fact that we don't directly or immediately see a negative outcome from it? Is it an out of sight, out of mind thing? Maybe.