TikTok CEO testimony: some U.S. data may still be accessible for ByteDance employees In a recent testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer admitted that some U.S. user data may still be accessible to ByteDance employees, despite the company's efforts to separate its Chinese and U.S. operations. Mayer explained that while TikTok has established a data center in the U.S. and hired a third-party auditor to review its data security practices, there may still be some residual access to U.S. user data by ByteDance employees in China. This admission is likely to fuel concerns among U.S. lawmakers and regulators about the security of TikTok's user data, particularly given the company's Chinese ownership and the Chinese government's history of using technology companies to gather intelligence. TikTok has been under scrutiny by the U.S. government for several months, with President Trump threatening to ban the app over national security concerns. The Trump administration has accused TikTok of collecting data on U.S. users and sharing it with the Chinese government, allegations that TikTok has denied. In response to these concerns, TikTok has taken several steps to distance itself from its Chinese parent company, including hiring a U.S. CEO and establishing a U.S. data center. The company has also announced plans to create a new entity, TikTok Global, that would be majority-owned by U.S. investors. However, Mayer's testimony suggests that there may still be some lingering concerns about the security of TikTok's user data, particularly given the company's ties to China. It remains to be seen whether these concerns will be enough to convince the Trump administration to ban the app, or whether TikTok's efforts to address these concerns will be sufficient to satisfy U.S. regulators. In the meantime, TikTok users in the U.S. will likely continue to enjoy the app's popular short-form videos, while lawmakers and regulators grapple with the complex issues surrounding data security and national security in the digital age.