City of Windsor says it's removing TikTok from the phones and tablets its staff uses
TikTok ban on city devices goes into effect today
Mayor Drew Dilkens announced Friday that the City of Windsor will remove the popular video app TikTok from all staff devices, effective Monday.
In an email sent to federal Global Affairs Canada employees on February 27, department officials said the Chief Information Officer of Canada made the decision following a review.
The review found that TikTok's data collection methods could lead to cyber attacks, the email said.
Mona Fortier, president of the Treasury Board, said in a statement, "TikTok's data collection methods provide considerable access to the contents of the phone."
Dilkens said his decision to remove the app from phones is an obvious one.
"Clearly that's a strong sign if your federal government is making that a rule," Dilkens said. "We want to make sure that we're good on our IT side as well, and that there's no exposure to the team."
Windsor's senior communications manager, Jason Moore, told CBC News, the app isn't widely used with Windsor city staff, and in his opinion, its removal will effect few staff members.
"All corporate devices have had it removed today due to privacy concerns raised by the federal information officer for Canada and followed by various municipalities across Ontario, including Windsor," he said. "Use of TikTok was very limited at the city, so there were no need for it on corporate devices."
Windsor Police Service has also wiped TikTok from its phones.
"In accordance with action taken by the federal government, the City of Windsor, and other Ontario police services, the TikTok app has been removed from WPS phones and blocked from the WPS network," Const. Bianca Jackson said.
Gord Quinton, financial officer for Chatham-Kent, spoke with CBC News as a representative of the mayor's office. He said Chatham-Kent does not comment on its cyber security protocols.
LaSalle Coun. Terry Burns plans to introduce a motion to remove TikTok from all LaSalle city devices at Tuesday's city council meeting.
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With files from Richard Raycraft