Businesses consider banning TikTok on employee phones

Almost half of all IT policymakers are considering bans on smartphone apps in the workplace, including restrictions on social media platform TikTok, in a bid to protect sensitive business data, a study has found.

And many of those bans could extend to employees’ privately owned phones, with two in five managers considering restrictions on all devices used at work.

The findings, from a survey by BlackBerry, come a week after an Australian Senate inquiry made recommendations about Chinese and Russian-owned apps, including extending a government ban on TikTok and restricting access to messaging app WeChat.

BlackBerry engineering director Jonathan Jackson said the Senate committee’s findings reflected widespread concerns about data security among Australian businesses.