Amazon Orders Employees to Delete TikTok from their Phones [Updated]

According to a copy of an email tweeted by New York Times’ Taylor Lorenz, Amazon has ordered its employees to delete the TikTok app from phones they use to access their work email accounts citing “security risks” (via Business Insider).

“Due to security risks, the TikTok app is no longer permitted on mobile devices that access Amazon email,” says the email Amazon sent to employees this morning.

Here’s the email Amazon sent to employees this morning banning TikTok from employee phones.

“If you have TikTok on your device, you must remove it by 10-Jul to retain mobile access to Amazon email.” pic.twitter.com/fIgmqyMhmO

— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz)

July 10, 2020

A TikTok spokesperson has said in a statement that the company did not receive any notice from Amazon about the ban, adding that it values privacy and security.

“While Amazon did not communicate to us before sending their email, and we still do not understand their concerns, we welcome a dialogue so we can address any issues they may have and enable their team to continue participating in our community,” the TikTok spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has recently announced that it’s planning to ban TikTok in the US due to its Chinese ownership and data collection, although it hasn’t yet clarified what such a ban would look like.

Update July 10 at 2:12pm PDT: According to Amazon, they told The Verge the above email was “sent in error” and TikTok is not being banned from employee phones.

“This morning’s email to some of our employees was sent in error,” the Amazon spokesperson said to The Verge. “There is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok.”