TikTok propose Oracle for Trump-mandated US handover
TikTok have potentially decided on their new partner to take over data operations in the US following President Trump’s threats.
Last month, ol’ Don Trump threatened the huge social video app TikTok with a shutdown over security concerns. Largely because of the origin of the app’s creators Bytedance, China, Trump suggested that US citizens data could be accessed in Beijing.
Bytedance have strongly denied this, saying they have taken “extraordinary measures to protect the privacy and security of TikTok’s US user data”. However they have taken measures to hand over operations to a US-based service to avoid any conflict.
US tech company Oracle have confirmed that TikTok has proposed the idea to them of becoming their “trusted technology partner”. US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin said this week that the Trump administration had been contacted by them to discuss making TikTok’s headquarters US-based.
TikTok has a huge following of 100 million users in the US and as such are clearly very anxious not to leave the market. TikTok released a statement confirming a proposal to the Treasury Department, however avoided mentioning Oracle specifically.
“This proposal would enable us to continue supporting our community of 100 million people in the US who love TikTok for connection and entertainment, as well as the hundreds of thousands of small business owners and creators who rely upon TikTok to grow their livelihoods and build meaningful careers.”
Carolina Milanesi, of the Silicon Valley located research firm Creative Strategies, said: “While I can see the upside for Oracle from a cloud perspective, it is hard not to think how much of this deal rests on politics rather than tech.”