A Canadian intelligence official allegedly warned the federal government that TikTok, a video-sharing app linked to Beijing, was misleading governments and the public about its data-harvesting methods. This warning was given almost six months before the app was banned from all federal devices in Ottawa. The Privy Council Office’s Intelligence Assessment Secretariat prepared a document in September 2022 that stated TikTok was providing false reassurances about data sovereignty and security. The secretariat’s brief outlined concerns about TikTok, stating that the app created a platform for Beijing to exploit and that users were unknowingly exposing themselves to security and privacy risks. TikTok, owned by ByteDance, has faced bans in over 28 American states due to concerns about user data access by the Chinese regime. A September 2022 intelligence brief also stated that TikTok had access to user devices, location data, personal information, and biometric identifiers. The brief suggested that the adoption of new technologies by TikTok would result in a greater harvest of sensitive Western data accessible to China.