US Lawmakers Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Regulate Data Sharing by Companies Like TikTok

The legislation could address some of the core security concerns about the app and restrict foreign-owned companies from accessing US data from abroad or sending data to "unfriendly foreign nations." TikTok has faced increased scrutiny from US lawmakers around its ties to China and concerns that its Beijing-based parent company could give the Chinese Communist Party access to US user data.

The reintroduced bill could help address these concerns by identifying "high-risk countries" and issuing licenses for data exports to some countries while still sharing data freely with "low-risk" nations.

TikTok has also been trying to show it can safeguard US user data by walling it off in US-based servers and deleting legacy data stored elsewhere, but the latest version of the bill indirectly targets TikTok by barring data transfers from one company to a parent that may receive data requests by a restricted foreign government.