TikTok ban extends to TSA employees amid Chinese spying fears

Both the US Army and US Navy have already blocked use of the China-owned video app

TikTok is now banned by both the US Army and the US Navy (Reuters)

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has become the latest US agency to ban TikTok, citing security fears with the hugely popular app.

New York senator Chuck Schumer wrote to TSA administrator David Pekoske raising concerns about the way the China-owned app handles user data.

TikTok is already banned by the Department of Homeland Security, as well as on government-issued mobile devices used by the US Army and US Navy.

The TSA responded to Mr Schumer's letter by announcing that employees will no longer use the app as part of the agency's social media strategy.

"TSA has never published any content to TikTok nor has it ever directed viewers to TikTok," the agency said in a statement.

"A small number of TSA employees have previously used TikTok on their personal devices to create videos for use in TSA's social media outreach, but that practice has since been discontinued."

Since it launched in 2016, TikTok has amassed more than 800 million users around the world.

Security concerns stem from claims that Chinese laws force the company to hand over user data in order to assist intelligence agencies.

A recent class action lawsuit in the US also claimed that TikTok comes pre-installed with "Chinese surveillance software".

According to the lawsuit, "TikTok clandestinely has vacuumed up and transferred to servers in China vast quantities of private and personally-identifiableuser data that can be employed to identify, profile and track the location and activities of users in the United States now and in the future".

TikTok owner Bytedance did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest ban but it has consistently denied that the data of US users is stored in China.

"We store all TikTok US user data in the United States, with backup redundancy in Singapore," the firm said in a statement last year.

"We remain committed to providing a safe and expressive app experience for our community."