The Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness advised against using the Tiktok and Telegram apps on the service’s phones and tablets on Tuesday following an assessment by the National Security Authority (NSM).

– We prefer to act immediately when it comes to ministers, secretaries of state and political advisers. Based on this, the Prime Minister decided that ministers, state secretaries or political advisers may not have Tiktok or Telegram on their service phones or tablets, State Secretary Kristine Kallset told the Prime Minister’s Office (SMK) to NTB.

Minister for Justice and Emergency Preparedness Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) received an assessment from NSM on Monday.

– I support the NSM assessment. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness today will send a letter to all ministries in which we advise against using Tiktok and Telegram in service units, said Mehl.

TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which collects a lot of data about its users. Telegram has a Russian owner.

– High risk

NSM said that the app should not be installed on devices that have access to the company’s internal digital infrastructure or services, as this poses a high risk.

This should also apply to employees in the private sector who are subject to the Safety Act in whole or in part, according to NSM.

– Other applications such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat also collect a lot of information. NSM points to the challenges of the possibility of commercial resale of such data. Therefore, everyone who uses social media should have a conscious relationship with what information they share and the settings they have on their phones, said Mehl.

The recommendation was not a ban on Tiktok or Telegram, but a suggestion that they should not be installed on the service’s devices, emphasized NSM.

If there is a service requirement for the application, NSM recommends that it be installed on a separate device used only for this purpose.

Mehl has Tiktok

Mehl has been criticized for that he has Tiktok on his phone, and for not answering publicly about this. He admitted to having the app on his unrated service phone for a month, but he stated he did not have Tiktok on his rated phone. The case ends with Mehl having to answer for himself in the Storting.

– I have tried to answer as openly as possible. I apologize that I was not more open before and I have contributed to creating uncertainty, said Mehl.

Banned in some countries

In a number of other countries, Tiktok is already banned on the service’s mobile phones, including the US, UK, Canada and Denmark. The US also recently threatened to shut down the app to American users if the Chinese owner of TikTok does not sell his share. American elected officials fear that data on Americans will end up with Chinese authorities.

Some point to the law in China that Chinese companies must turn over customer information if asked.