TikTok updates European data security measures

The Chinese-owned short video platform TikTok has announced a series of data security measures named "Project Clover" amid the tightened regulations on data security in Europe.

The new measures include further enhancing controls on access to user's data, by introducing security gateways that will determine employee access to European TikTok user data and data transfers outside of Europe.

Any data access will not only comply with the relevant data protection laws but also have to first go through these security gateways and additional checks, according to TikTok. The process will be overseen and checked by a third-party European security company.

The company said it will begin storing European TikTok user's data locally this year, with migration continuing into 2024.

It also plans to build its second data center in Ireland, and another in the Hamar region of Norway. Last year, TikTok established its first European data center in Dublin, Ireland. All of these data centers will be co-location sites operated by third-party service providers, the company said.

"Once operational, these three data centers will represent a total annual investment of 1.2 billion euros ($1.27 billion)," TikTok said.

It will also leverage the latest advanced technologies that protect user privacy, such as the pseudonym of personal data so that an individual cannot be identified without additional information.