The Czech cyber watchdog, on Wednesday, issued a caution about using Tik Tok, as it joins other Western authorities in deeming the Chinese-owned video-sharing app a security threat.
Tik Tok has recently come under growing security in many countries over concerns that the app may give Chinese authorities access to sensitive user data.
The Czech National Cyber and lnformation Security Agency warned that Tik Tok could pose a threat if installed on “devices accessing critical information and communication infrastructure.”
“The Agency is concerned about a potential security threat stemming from the use of Tik Tok primarily due to the amount of user data that is collected by the app as well as the way the data is handled,” it said.
The NUKIB also noted that it was worried because Tik Tok parent company, ByteDance, “falls under the legal jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China”.
US lawmakers have introduced a bill to ban the app, which US government workers are already prohibited from installing on their devices.
Civil servants at the European Union, as well as in Canada and Denmark are also barred from having TikTok on their phones.
The Czech government, while a part of the EU, has not introduced a ban so far.
In a report published last year, the Czech national intelligence agency BIS singled China out as a major threat targeting Czech space, according to media reports.
“Chinese technologies penetrating important networks of state infrastructures… can be evaluated as a major security threat,” it said.