US senators request TikTok data investigation

Senator Jerry Moran, chair of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, and senator John Thune, chair of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet, both sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission last week.

The Federal Trade Commission is an independent government agency which enforces civil antitrust law and promotes consumer protection in the US.

The letter from the two senators has asked the commission to investigate TikTok’s alleged collection of media access control addresses from millions of US consumers up until November 2019.

The calls for an investigation come as TikTok faces pressure from US politicians over its Chinese ownership amid increasing diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Earlier this month US president Donald Trump signed an executive order banning US companies from doing business with TikTok and fellow Chinese social media platform WeChat.

The executive order was signed on 7 August, and was due to come into force 45 days afterwards. This was later extended to 90 days.