Gov staff using it on personal mobes just fine... it's not like ministers use WhatsApp etc for business ... oh wait

The United Kingdom government has banned use of Chinese social media platform TikTok among ministers and officials on their work devices as a “precautionary” measure over worries the app is used to snoop on Brits.

Speaking to Parliament this afternoon, Oliver Dowden, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Secretary of State who oversees Cabinet Office policy, said the ban would have immediate effect and applied to devices issued within ministerial and non-ministerial departments, but not to “personal devices for government employees or ministers or the general public.”

Dowden declined the opportunity to say on what advice it acted to exclude the Chinese video-sharing software from government devices.

“This is a precautionary move. We know that there is already limited use of TikTok across government, but it is also good cyber hygiene. Given the particular risk around government devices, which may contain sensitive information, it is both prudent and proportionate ...