Synopsis The European Commission and the EU Council last week banned TikTok from staff phones due to growing concerns about the company. Reuters The ban, starting from March 20, will apply to corporate devices such as mobile phones and tablets which are enrolled in Parliament's mobile management application The European Parliament has banned TikTok from staff phones, following in the footsteps of two top European Union policymaking institutions and underlining the mounting unease over the Chinese short video-sharing app and who accesses its user data. The European Commission and the EU Council last week banned TikTok from staff phones due to growing concerns about the company, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, and whether China's government could harvest users' data or advance its interests. Beijing has regularly denied having any such intentions. The ban, starting from March 20, will apply to corporate devices such as mobile phones and tablets which are enrolled in Parliament's mobile management application, a Parliament spokesperson said. The assembly also strongly recommended lawmakers and staff remove TikTok from their personal devices, confirming an earlier Reuters story. TikTok said the bans were misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories "TikTok is enjoyed by 125 million EU citizens and potentially depriving users from access to their representatives is a self-defeating step, especially in our shared fight against misinformation and when this action is being taken on the basis of fears rather than facts," the company said. The US Senate also banned TikTok on government-owned devices, with Canada adopting a similar decision on Monday. India has banned the app throughout the country. Don’t miss out on ET Prime stories! Get your daily dose of business updates on WhatsApp. click here! Wednesday, 01 Mar, 2023 Experience Your Economic Times Newspaper, The Digital Way! Read Complete Print Edition » Front Page Pure Politics Companies Brands & Companies More Economy Grows at a Slower Pace of 4. 4% in Dec qtr The Indian economy grew at a slower-than-expected 4. 4% in the December quarter compared with 6. 3% in the preceding three-month period, weighed down by base normalisation and weakness in consumption. Hope It Doesn’t Take a Second Pandemic to Build Right Tools The world needs to build more tools and global institutions to tackle any future pandemic, Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in an interview to ET’s Deborshi Chaki. SAP to Double India Investment in 5yrs India is “a winner” and “a bright spot” in a world that’s in turmoil, says Christian Klein, chief executive at SAP SE. The German software giant aims to double its investments in India over the next five years. Read More News on european parliament tiktok ban tiktok ban eu tiktok european commission tiktok eu council tiktok tiktok ban staff phones tiktok ban canada tiktok Stay on top of technology and startup news that matters. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest and must-read tech news, delivered straight to your inbox. . . . more less ETPrime stories of the day Blockchain Smoke without 5ire? India’s ‘fastest-growing blockchain unicorn’ and a USD1. 5 billion question. 10 mins read Logistics Why warehousing rentals have gone up by 9%, and there is room for more 7 mins read People Meet Avadhut Sathe — the man on a mission to make every Indian wealthy via stock trading 13 mins read Subscribe to ETPrime.