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TikTok, the globally popular short video app owned by China's ByteDance with over 1 billion users worldwide, is facing fresh challenges in its global expansion push amid the departure of key executives and renewed scrutiny over its data collection practices.
David Ortiz, the New York-based leader of TikTok's monetisation product, wrote on LinkedIn on Tuesday that his role was "being eliminated in a much larger reorganisation effort".
Ortiz, an alumnus of cloud-based software company Salesforce and social media firm Snap, joined TikTok in 2020 as one of the Beijing-based company's first recruits outside China to build international product management and engineering teams.
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His post echoed a report on Monday by tech publication Wired that TikTok had alerted some UK and US-based employees about upcoming job cuts. Others in Europe were told to expect meetings with human resources representatives in the coming weeks, according to the report, which cited unnamed sources.
Personnel changes have taken place at the higher levels as well. Last week, TikTok announced that Roland Cloutier would step down as global chief security officer and move to a strategic advisory role in September.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but spokeswoman Anna Sopel told Wired that the company often makes adjustments to its staffing to support its goals. "There are a small number of roles within the operations and marketing teams that shifted in focus - that can't be called a 'companywide restructure'."
The moves come as concerns flared anew about TikTok's data security practices in key overseas markets.
Last week, Italy's data protection authority said the app may have breached European Union rules by delivering targeted advertising without user consent. A TikTok representative said at the time that the company "strives to build a personalised experience" and is "committed to respecting the privacy of [its] users".
This week, Australian cybersecurity firm Internet 2.0 accused TikTok of collecting an "excessive" amount of user data. Researchers said the app checks device location at least once an hour, continuously seeks access to contacts even after a user denied previous requests, and maps all installed apps on a device.
In response to a report by the Australian Financial Review about the findings, TikTok said it was "not unique in the amount of information it collects, which is less than many popular mobile apps".