Australia announced on Monday that it would ban the TikTok app, owned by Chinese group ByteDance, from government devices over security concerns.

Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said the decision follows advice from the country’s intelligence agencies and will be implemented “as soon as possible”, with exceptions to be decided on a case-by-case basis, AFP news agency reported.

“After receiving advice from intelligence and security agencies, I today authorized the Secretary of the Public Prosecution Service to issue a binding order under the Protective Security Policy Framework,” Dreyfus said, according to the agency. EuropaPress.

However, those affected by the official ban can continue to use the application on their personal devices, like phones and computers

Thus, Australia became the last country of the intelligence alliance “Five Eyes” (FVEY, for its abbreviation in English) -also made up of Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States – to block the application.

The European Commission has also taken similar decisions.

experts cyber security They warn that the app, with over a billion users, can be used to collect data which is then shared with Chinese authorities. TikTok criticizes that these vetoes are “based on xenophobia”, added AFP.

In December, the social network changed its privacy policy, which allowed Chinese employees to access European user data, although it is not clear what data these employees have access to and which employees are involved. , according to Europa Press.

Earlier this year, the Australian government also announced that it was removing hundreds of Chinese-made security cameras from politicians’ offices, over security concerns.