U. of Texas at Austin Bans TikTok from Campus WiFi, Wired Networks
“The university is taking these important steps to eliminate risks to information contained in the university’s network and to our critical infrastructure”
This is the way things are going all over the country. It’s surprising how quickly it’s happening.
The Texas Tribune reports:
UT-Austin blocks access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks
The University of Texas at Austin has blocked access to the video-sharing app TikTok on its Wi-Fi and wired networks in response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent directive requiring all state agencies to remove the app from government-issued devices, according to an email sent to students Tuesday.
“The university is taking these important steps to eliminate risks to information contained in the university’s network and to our critical infrastructure,” UT-Austin technology adviser Jeff Neyland wrote in the email. “As outlined in the governor’s directive, TikTok harvests vast 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.”
Abbott’s Dec. 7 directive stated that all state agencies must ban employees from downloading or using the app on government-issued devices, including cellphones, laptops and desktops, with exceptions for law enforcement agencies. He 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.
That plan was to be distributed to state agencies by Jan. 15 and each state agency is expected to create its own policy regarding the use of TikTok on personal devices by Feb. 15, according to Abbott’s directive. Two public universities, University of Houston and Texas Tech, said in separate statements they are still waiting for state guidance to be released.
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Comments
I attend another public university in Texas and they sent out an email today that stated that the school’s IT system (wired or WiFi) will not allow a connection to TikTok as of 5:00 pm. I am thinking that someone in the state government sent out a message that the state government ban on TikTok goes beyond simply not allowing it on school computers, but includes the IT infrastructure as well.
Right move. Wrong reason. The most dangerous aspect of TikTok is its use as a persuasion tool by the CCP.