Finland kept in the dark about secret TikTok project
The TikTok data processing center construction project in Finland was kept secret for more than six months. The government only became aware of the investment when land was purchased for the Chinese social platform's server center and the first building permits were issued, as reported by Yle radio.
The government found out about it too late, admitted Economy Minister Wille Rydman, who was clearly surprised, acknowledging that information about the Chinese company's investment plans, estimated at about 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion), only reached him last Monday.
The facility in the city of Kouvola (about 80 miles northeast of Helsinki) will be built by Finnish development company Hyperco. TikTok will be its primary user, according to the city, emphasizing that TikTok is also a tenant of similar data centers in other parts of Europe. In April, TikTok's server center was launched in Norway.
According to Yle's findings, TikTok's investment in Finland is backed by billionaires from Dubai, who are conducting business with Donald Trump in Russia and with China. The offices of Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Prime Minister Petteri Orpo did not respond to the radio's questions about this controversial project.
Due to data security and user privacy concerns, as well as fears of "espionage," many institutions in Western countries have banned the use of Chinese TikTok on official devices. These include the U.S. House of Representatives, the European Parliament, the European Commission, as well as Finland's national assembly (Eduskunta) and the cabinet.
On Friday in Ireland, TikTok's owner was fined over half a billion euros for insufficient protection of information related to passing personal data of customers from the European Economic Area to Chinese authorities. Bytedance announced it will appeal this decision.
