China-based mobile apps pose threats to security By Chen Kuo-fon 陳國峯 US Representative Michael McCaul, the ranking member of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Jan. 23 urged US President Joe Biden to follow through on an election pledge to deal with the security risk posed by TikTok. Biden told reporters on a campaign stop in Minnesota on Sept. 18 last year that TikTok was “a matter of genuine concern,” and that as president, he would have Internet experts access the app. In addition to TikTok, former US president Donald Trump expressed concern over the security risks posed by WeChat. In explaining the Trump administration’s rationale for trying to ban TikTok, WeChat and other Chinese apps in an interview with Fox Business on Aug. 31 last year, then-White House National Trade Council director Peter Navarro said: “It’s critical that this country not use apps that are made in China or that can take our data and go to servers in China, because that data will be used to surveil, monitor and track you.”