In Denmark, government employees are discouraged from having Tiktok on their work phones, and both the Center Party and the Sweden Democrats are open to a ban.
– It can be too blunt and it is unnecessary, says Pontus Johnson who is also director of the Center for Cyber Defense and Information Security, which includes the Swedish Armed Forces.
He emphasizes that it is not just Tiktok that we need to discuss. Tiktok collects the same information as other social media apps and we already have tons of other products from China. For example, Volvo is now Chinese.
– Volvo cars are excellent instruments for eavesdropping, they have excellent microphones. We do not want to ban government employees from driving Volvos.
“Must weigh benefit against risk”
Pontus Johnson also points out that you have to weigh the benefits of the products against the risks.
– China is developing very good technology that we want in the West. They build a lot of things that are cheap and good.
True, Tiktok has access to the contact book, photos and one’s location, but according to Pontus Johnson, phone manufacturers put a lot of resources into ensuring that apps do not have access to more information than necessary.
– They can’t access other apps, they can’t read your email.
Pontus Johnson also says that a ban does not solve the security problem.
– It is possible for the Chinese state to hack mobile phones without Tiktok. We are not getting away from the problem.