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The University of Texas at Austin has banned TikTok on campus wi-fi networks. The Texas Tribune reported that the ban is in response to Governor Greg Abbott's directive that requires all state agencies to remove the app from government-issued devices.
UT-Austin technology adviser Jeff Neyland wrote in an email to students on Tuesday, "The university is taking these important steps to eliminate risks to information contained in the university's network and to our critical infrastructure. As outlined in the governor's directive TikTok harvests cast amounts of data from its users' devices- including when, where and how they conduct internet activity- and offers this trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government."
Jeff Graves, Chief Compliance Officer, wrote in an email, "If you have not yet removed TikTok from all such devices, please do so immediately. Further, do not install TikTok on any state-issued device." See the full email below:
The Governor's December 7th directive states that all state agencies must ban employees from downloading or using the app on government-issues devices, including cellphones, laptops, and desktops. The only exceptions are for law enforcement agencies.
Abbott also directed the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of Information Resources to create a plan to guide state agencies on how to handle the use of TikTok on personal devices, including those that have access to a state employee's email account or connect to a state agency network.
The ban could have a great impact on universities, where college-age students are a key demographic that uses the app. Universities have used the app to connect with prospective students and many athletic departments have used it to promote sporting events.