TikTok, Netflix, Candy Crush… Since Friday, the government has been cracking down, banning the installation and use of “recreational” applications on the business phones of 2.5 million state civil servants.
These applications present “risks in terms of cybersecurity and data protection of public officials and the administration”, estimated the entourage of the Minister of Public Service Stanislas Guerini, who is following in the footsteps of several Western institutions and governments having already banned or restricted the use of TikTok on work devices. But the government has not yet drawn up a uniform list of prohibited applications, the measure is taken by default.
No set penalties for non-compliance with the ban
The ban, notified to the various ministries through a “binding” instruction according to the government, comes into force immediately, and does not concern the personal telephones of state officials. Civil servants who wish to use one of the banned applications for institutional communication purposes must apply for an exemption from the digital department of their ministry.
In case of violation of the prohibition, no unified system of sanctions is foreseen at this stage. Any sanctions will have to be decided “at the managerial level” of each ministry, according to the services of Stanislas Guerini. The White House, the European Commission, the Canadian and British governments, among others, and other organizations recently banned their officials from using TikTok on their work phones.
At the center of fears is a 2017 Chinese law that requires local companies to hand over personal data that would be relevant to national security upon request from the authorities.