The events that developed after the USA accused TikTok as an “agent of the Chinese government” became even more serious when the USA, Canada and the European Union banned TikTok to government employees. Concerned about the security of the data, authorities threatened to shut down the platform if TikTok did not change its policies.
Today, TikTok announced Project Clover, their new data storage system in the face of the threats of the European Union. Thanks to this new system, the Chinese social media platform can regain its “freedom” in Europe.
So what is this “Project Clover”?
Project Clover essentially covers the rollout of some features that TikTok is already working on on privacy and data security. These features include reviewing data by government officials when deemed necessary.
With this project, the company will also keep the data of European users in Europe and will be regularly audited by a security company jointly determined by the EU and ByteDance. The main task of the security company will be to make sure that the data is safe and that TikTok is not secretly transferring the data to China, as alleged.
Thanks to the Clover Project, TikTok aims to break free from the bans of EU authorities and operate more freely in Europe. However, considering that the company implemented a similar system called Project Texas in the USA in 2020, and despite this, it could not get rid of the bans of the USA, the expectations of the company may be unrequited.
TikTok’s head of Europe, Theo Bertram, stated that they started to meet with 3rd party data storage and security companies regarding the project, while it is a matter of curiosity what kind of projects the company will implement in countries other than Europe and the USA.