As a new U.S. version of the TikTok video sharing app seems to be on the horizon, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) opened an investigation into the app this week.
The commission explained in a press release that it opened an inquiry into TikTok Technology Limited’s transfers of European Economic Area (EEA) users’ personal data to servers located in China. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is based in China. Additionally, the DPC said that it opened an earlier inquiry into the transfer of personal data from EEA TikTok users to China.
“During that previous inquiry, TikTok maintained that transfers of EEA users’ personal data to China took place by way of remote access only and that EEA user data were not stored on servers located within China i.e. EEA user data were stored on servers located outside of China and were accessed remotely by TikTok staff from within China,” said the DPC. “Accordingly, the DPC’s decision of 30 April 2025 did not consider TikTok’s storage of EEA users’ personal data on servers located in China.”
However, TikTok informed the DPC in April that limited EEA data had been stored on servers in China, contrary to previous evidence.
“The DPC’s decision, which issued following the inquiry cooperation procedure with peer EU regulators under the GDPR One Stop Shop mechanism, expressed its deep concern that TikTok had submitted inaccurate information to that inquiry,” the DPC said. Now, the new investigation is intended to “determine whether TikTok has complied with its relevant obligations under the GDPR in the context of the transfers now at issue,” the agency said.
Under former President Joe Biden last year, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that required ByteDance to find a U.S. buyer for TikTok to prevent it from being banned. Current President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January not to act on that legislation for 75 days. That marked a turn from his first term, when Trump led an effort to ban the app.
Vox reported this week that Attorney General Pam Bondi even sent out letters in April instructing tech companies not to comply with Congress’ law banning TikTok. These letters were discovered via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Reuters reported this week that “TikTok is preparing to launch a standalone app for U.S. users that is expected to operate on a separate algorithm and data system from its global app.” This standalone app is expected to lay the groundwork for a potential global sale executed by Trump said Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter.
TikTok employees have been working under tight deadlines for several months to build the new, U.S.-specific version of TikTok, the outlet added. This had included transferring and duplicating the application’s codebase, including artificial intelligence models, algorithms, features, and user data.
“Now, the talks on TikTok’s fate are also part of President Trump’s broader trade negotiations with China over tariffs, sources said,” per the Reuters report. It also said Trump mentioned last week that he would resume talks with China about the TikTok deal.
While that deal is still being worked out, TikTok faced another challenge in the U.S. this week. In a Friday press release, New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella announced that his Office’s Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau achieved “a significant legal win in its lawsuit against TikTok Inc., advancing efforts to hold the social media company accountable for consumer protection violations related to the impact of its app on children and families.”