TikTok Negotiates With US To Alleviate Their Security Concerns; Oracle Could Play An Important Role Here

The U.S. preliminarily agreed to resolve national security concerns posed by the Chinese-owned video app TikTok just weeks before November's midterm elections.
The two sides struggled over a deal allowing TikTok to change its data security and governance without requiring its owner, the Chinese internet giant ByteDance Ltd, to sell it, the New York Times reports.
TikTok looked to make changes to three main areas. TikTok would store its American data solely on servers in the U.S., probably run by Oracle Corp ORCL. Second, Oracle will likely monitor TikTok's powerful algorithms that determine the content the app recommends. Lastly, TikTok would create a board of security experts reporting to the government to oversee its U.S. operations.
TikTok struggled to keep operating in the U.S. without significant changes to its ownership structure.
The Justice Department led the negotiations with TikTok reserving concerns over China. The Treasury Department expressed doubt over the resolution of national security issues.
U.S. lawmakers and regulators repeatedly raised concerns about TikTok's ability to protect the data of U.S. users from China. Former U.S. President Donald J. Trump tried to force ByteDance to sell TikTok to a U.S. company in 2020 and threatened to block the app.
The White House worked on two other executive orders to address concerns about China. One would tackle worries that American investors were putting money into Chinese firms. The second could give the government more power to take on apps that, like TikTok, could leak data to a foreign power.
Pinterest Inc (NYSE: PINS) and TikTok were the only platforms to see year-over-year growth in Q3. However, KeyBanc found TikTok's growth has slowed across demographics.
Beijing and Washington have been at loggerheads over national security threat allegations and cyber-snooping.
China alleged U.S. intelligence agents hacked into a government-funded Northwestern Polytechnical University and gained control of parts of China's telecom network.
While a former U.S. intelligence chief acknowledged that the "Chinese intelligence operatives are on a par with the Russians."
Price Action: ORCL shares traded lower by 0.20% at $64.42 on the last check Monday.

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