Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson has welcomed the inquiry into the investigation of social media app TikTok for its handling of personal information and alleged data scraping. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner will look into whether TikTok contravened privacy laws when it allegedly used a pixel tool to gather data on users without consent. Commissioner Angelene Falk confirmed the inquiry following findings in by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office in a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Mr. Paterson raised concerns that TikTok was “beholden to the Chinese Communist Party” and is legally required to share the information with the regime’s intelligence agencies. He also suggested that the government should take proactive steps to prevent “other problematic companies” from illegally harvesting Australians’ data in the future. In early April, the Albanese government banned TikTok from internal devices following advice from intelligence and security agencies. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said at the time that exemptions would only be granted on a case-by-case basis with suitable security mitigations in place. The Epoch Times has contacted TikTok for comment.