TikTok has said it plans to build a data centre in Ireland worth $500m (£375m)
It will store videos, messages and other data generated by European users from the short-form video-sharing app. Until now all of its users’ records were stored in the US, with a back-up copy held in Singapore.
The announcement comes at a time when President Trump has threatened to ban the app in the US on the grounds its Chinese ownership makes it a national security risk. TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company Bytedance denies the charge. However, it is in talks to sell its US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand operations to Microsoft.
TikTok’s new data center is expected to be operational by early 2022. The move to expand its operations within EU borders is part of TikTok’s global effort to prove itself a responsible internet citizen and a trustworthy service provider.
TikTok said. The outfit established its EMEA Trust and Safety Hub in Dublin earlier in the year and said the new investment “signals our long-term commitment to Ireland.”
In order to please overseas market Beijing-based parent company ByteDance Ltd., the world’s most valuable startup, has been working to distance its domestic Chinese operations from TikTok
As part of the new data center development, TikTok is also continuing to grow its data protection, privacy teams, security and encryption the company said.
