- The state fears data privacy and that is why Missouri is considering bill to ban TikTok on state-owned devices.
- There have been several data leaks and security issues say Rep. Walsh Moore and new bill aims at banning certain China owned apps.
Cyber security is one of the important in the legislature in Missouri considering the apps that share data to the Chinese government along with several other objectives.
Apps that are connected to the Chinese government are about to be banned from state employee devices by the legislators. Legislators in Jefferson City at the statehouse are following federal government’s lead to ban apps like TikTok.
“The Chinese Communist Party is spying on Americans and we shouldn’T put up with it”
Rep. Adam Schnelting, (R)-St. Charles County
A house bill 919 has also been proposed as a solution for app banning by Rep. Schnelting which are owned by or share data with China from state-owned devices like laptops and cell phones.
“We’ve got over 60,000 employees in the state of Missouri or roughly, I should say. Government devices span from law enforcement, military and so on down the line. I make exceptions in the legislation for law enforcement and military so that if they need to for their research purposes or for their task, their duties, they can utilize it,” Schnelting said.
“There have been leaks in the past. Yes, we have had foreign government intervention through other social media apps. That has been proven. And so, we are just taking the next step to protect Missourians,” Rep. Walsh Moore said.
Seemingly harmless information given to social media can become serious issue says Prof. Reza Tourani of Saint Louis University Computer Science. He also says It is really important for everyone to know the importance of data protection.
“Usually the application asks for access to your contact information, your browsing history, your location information. That’s actually really valuable information on finding particular buildings that are not known to other entities, security buildings,” Tourani said.
“So that is one side of the problem, the information that has been collected. The other side is there is no clear regulation on how this information can be used,” Tourani said.
The bill once passed shall go to the House floor followed by the Senate and then could take effect immediately after governor signs it.
