TikTok’s global chief security officer (CSO), Roland Cloutier, is stepping down as the company transitions to using Oracle’s US-based servers to store Americans’ data (via) wall street journal) The company shared an internal memo about the change in a post on its newsroom, saying that Cloutier will take on an advisory role, with TikTok’s head of security risks, vendor and customer assurance, Kim Albarella temporarily taking over. .
“With our recent announcement of data management changes in the US, it is time for me to transition from my role as global chief security officer to a strategic advisory role, focusing on the business impact of security and trust programs. is focused, working directly with Shaw, Dingkun and other senior leaders,” Cloutier writes in the memo. Cloutier, who has been with TikTok since 2020, will officially step down on September 2.
In June, TikTok announced that it had begun routing US users’ data to Oracle servers so that China – where TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance is based – has unbridled access to this information. TikTok CEO Shaw Xie Chew and ByteDance vice president of technology Dingkun Hong say the change comes as “alleviating concerns about the security of user data in the US” but “in the realm of the global chief security officer (CSO)”. also changes the role.”
A spokesperson for Tiktok told WSJ That Cloutier was not involved in managing TikTok’s new department dedicated to handling US user data. She also explained that this organizational change was in the works months before US politicians turned up the heat on TikTok.
For years, TikTok has been scrutinized over its relationship with China-based ByteDance, with some US officials accusing the app of snatching Americans’ data from the Chinese government. last month, Buzzfeed News released a report claiming that TikTok employees in China “repeatedly” accessed US users’ data from at least September 2021 to January 2022.
In response to the report, a group of Republican senators wrote a letter to TikTok questioning the validity of the company’s testimony on data privacy during a hearing last October. TikTok responded to these concerns earlier this month, once again reiterating its plan to work with Oracle to “fully protect user data.”