Roland Cloutier, TikTok’s global chief security officer (CSO), is resigning as the firm switches to storing American users’ data on Oracle servers located in the US (via The Wall Street Journal). In a post on its website, the firm posted an internal memo on the change, which indicates that Cloutier will take on an advising role while Kim Albarella, head of security risk, vendor, and client assurance at TikTok, temporarily steps in.
The memo from Cloutier states, “With our recent announcement about changes to data management in the US, it’s time for me to transition from my role as Global Chief Security Officer into a strategic advisory role focused on the business impact of security and trust programs, working directly with Shou, Dingkun, and other senior leaders. On September 2nd, Cloutier, who has worked for TikTok since 2020, would formally resign from his post.
In an effort to allay concerns that China — where TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance — had unrestricted access to this information, TikTok revealed in June that it has begun routing US customers’ data through Oracle servers. The shift, according to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and ByteDance Vice President of Technology Dingkun Hong, “changes the scope of the Global Chief Security Officer (CSO) post” while also “minimizing worries about the security of user data in the US.”
According to a TikTok spokesperson who talked with the WSJ, Cloutier was not in charge of the company’s newly created section responsible for processing US user data. She added that this organizational change had been planned for months prior to US legislators intensifying their criticism of TikTok.
Because of its connections to the China-based ByteDance, TikTok has come under scrutiny for years. Some US officials have claimed that the app steals American data and gives it to the Chinese government. According to a report published by BuzzFeed News last month, TikTok personnel in China “repeatedly” accessed the data of US users from as least September 2021 to January 2022.
Following the publication of the research, a number of Republican senators issued a letter to TikTok casting doubt on the reliability of the company’s testimony regarding data privacy during an October hearing. In response to these worries, TikTok reiterated its plans to collaborate with Oracle to “completely safeguard user data” earlier this month.
