'Our data has never been stored in China,' TikTok CEO tells TED Talks

The CEO of TikTok dropped into a TED Talks conference in Vancouver Thursday to address concerns over data security on his social media platform.

Shou Zi Chew told Chris Anderson, the head of TED Talks, thatTikTok data has never been stored in China, but it has somelegacy data to be deleted on its servers in the United States andSingapore.

"That deletion is a very big engineering effort. So, as I saidat the hearing, it's going to take us a while to delete them, but Iexpect it to be done this year,'' said Chew, referring to histestimony before the U.S. Congress.

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, hasbeen under intense scrutiny over concerns it could hand over userdata to the Chinese government or promote pro-Beijing propaganda.

Both the Canadian and U.S. governments have banned TikTok's appon government-issued cellphones, and other companies around the worldhave done the same.

Chew testified at the U.S. Congress in March, asking lawmakersnot to pursue a ban on the app or force the parent company to giveup its ownership stake.

He said TikTok also prioritizes the safety of young users, and itplanned to store all U.S. user data on servers maintained and ownedby the software giant Oracle.

On Thursday, Chew said his team has already built anunprecedented project which allows it to store U.S. data on "American soil by an American company, overseen by Americanpersonnel.''

"So, this kind of protection for American data is beyond whatany other company in our industry has ever done,'' said Chew, addingit's very expensive to build.

Chew said TikTok's mission is to "inspire creativity and bringjoy.''

You will be "heard and have chances to succeed'' as long as youhave talent, he said.

Anderson asked Chew about the possibility of people becomingaddicted to the platform.

"From a company point of view, for example, it's in yourinterest to have people on there as long as possible,'' saidAnderson. "That's how advertising money will flow, and so forth.''

Chew said the company has done a number of things to suppressthat.

"If you spend too much time on our platform, we will proactivelysend you videos to tell you to get off the platform,'' said Chew.

At the end of the conversation, Chew and Anderson made a TikTokvideo together, which Chew predicted would get many views.

"That one goes viral. I think I've given up on your algorithm,actually,'' said Anderson with a laugh while wrapping up thesession.

A spokeswoman from TikTok said Chew is also visiting Vancouver tomeet with some Canadian creators to learn about the impact TikTokhas had on their lives, livelihoods and communities.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta-Canadian Press News Fellowship, which is not involved in the editorial process.