TikTok's security chief resigns as company moves US data to Oracle servers

Roland Cloutier, TikTok's global chief security officer (CSO), is stepping down after the company moved to use Oracle's US-based servers to store Americans' data (via The Wall Street Journal). The company shared an internal memo about the change in a post on its newsroom, which said Cloutier will assume an advisory role, including TikTok's head of security risk, vendor, and client assurance. Kim Albarella, will take over on an interim basis.

"With our recent announcement of data management changes in the US, it is time for me to transition from my role as Global Chief Security Officer to a strategic advisory role focused on the business impact of security and trust programs. Focus, work directly with Shaw, Dunkin and other senior leaders," Cloutier writes in the memo. Cloutier, who has been with TikTok since 2020, will officially step down from his position on September 2.

In June, TikTok announced that it had begun routing US user data to Oracle servers in an effort to allay concerns that China — where TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is based — had access to that information. Has unrestricted access. TikTok CEO Shu Zhiqiu and ByteDance's vice president of technology Dingkun Hong say the change comes as "alleviating concerns about the security of user data in the U.S.", but also as "global chief security It also changes the scope of the Officer (CSO) role."

A TikTok spokesperson told the WSJ that Cloutier was not involved in managing TikTok's new department dedicated to handling US user data. He also explained that this organizational change has been in the works for months before US politicians heat up on TikTok.

For years, TikTok has come under scrutiny over its ties to China-based ByteDance, with some US officials accusing the app of handing over Americans' data to the Chinese government. Last month, BuzzFeed News released a report claiming that TikTok employees in China "repeatedly" accessed US user data from at least September 2021 to January 2022.

In response to the report, a group of Republican senators wrote a letter to TikTok questioning the veracity of the company's testimony on data privacy during a hearing last October. TikTok responded to these concerns earlier this month by reiterating its plans to work with Oracle to "fully protect user data."