TikTok owner ByteDance plans to set up data centre in India amid series of privacy concerns and controversies

Chinese internet company ByteDance is planning to set up a data centre in India to store information of Indian users. It comes right after Indian government issued tices to ByteDance-owned TikTok and Helo along with a set of 24 questions over allegations of misuse of platforms for "anti-national activities" in India.

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"As a testimony to ByteDance's recognition of India's efforts to frame a new data protection legislation, we are pleased to anunce that we are taking a significant step towards establishing a data centre in India," ByteDance said in its blog post. "We are w in process of examining options for safe, secure and reliable services for our Indian users within India's borders." 

ByteDance also said that data of Indian users is stored at third-party data centres in US and Singapore.

"Since launch of our platforms in India, we have stored data of our Indian users at industry-leing third-party data centres in U.S. and Singapore...We w believe that time has come to take next big leap."

While ByteDance is yet to provide more details, ByteDance has reportedly started discussions with local players and it could take between 6-18 months to start process of data localisation.

Republic World has learnt that ByteDance's future plan for a data centre in India is part of company's existing plan to invest $1 billion in country over next three years. Earlier, ByteDance reassured its commitment to developing techlogy infrastructure in India.

Indian government is crafting a personal data protection bill (PDP), which is similar to European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Consent of data subject and minimum collection of data and its destruction after use are mandatory requirements here. bill restricts and imposes conditions on cross-border transfer of personal data and proposes penalties for violation.

ByteDance, which is considered among world's most valuable startups, is backed by SoftBank, General Atlantic, KKR and Sequoia.

company's viral video app TikTok, which is constantly fighting one crisis after or in India, has over 200 million users in country.

Previously, Mras High Court briefly banned TikTok in India over concerns of "encouraging porgraphy." order was later lifted and app was back on app stores.

In related news, Tamil Nu government is planning to ban TikTok in light of media reports on deaths of users.

(With inputs from PTI)