TikTok Steps Up European User Data Protections Amid Threats of Bans

TikTok, the popular short video app owned by ByteDance Ltd., introduced on Wednesday a sweeping set of measures to ensure greater data protections and local control for European users, in response to mounting threats by Western governments to ban the app on what they say are national security grounds arising from the company’s data handling practices.

The program, dubbed “Project Clover,” is a response to increasing pressure from lawmakers in Europe for the widely used app to address data security concerns. It includes measures for users in Europe designed to protect their personal data by storing it within the region, while tightening restrictions on data transfers according to established principles of European data sovereignty, according to a company statement. The app has more than 150 million monthly users in the region, it said.