Acorda: No policy vs. TikTok use in PNP

There is no policy against the use of social media app TikTok in the Philippine National Police (PNP), the police organization's chief Police General Benjamin Acorda Jr. said on Monday.

“With regards to the company-issued cellphone, wala tayong policy pa diyan,” Acorda told reporters in an ambush interview after the 123rd anniversary ceremony of the Manila Police District.

(With regards to the company-issued cellphone, we do not have a policy on that yet.)

“With regards to paggamit ng TikTok privately, iyong ating personnel, as long as it's not degrading our uniform, walang problema,” he added.

(With regards to using TikTok privately among personnel, as long as it's not degrading our uniform, there is no problem.)

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) recently said that TikTok is already banned among military personnel due to cybersecurity risks.

AFP personnel could still use TikTok on their personal devices as long as these are not connected to the military network and they do not post content that would compromise the camp’s security, it noted.

Colonel Francel Padilla, AFP spokesperson, pointed out that TikTok and other free apps ask users for access to phone features like camera, microphone, and messages even though their services have nothing to do with these functions.

"Not just Tiktok, but the free apps that we have in our gadgets, they have the capability to turn on our microphones, to look at us and watch us while we sleep and turn on our cameras, access our SMS sent messages to our contacts because we gave them permission when we downloaded these applications," she said.

In September last year, the National Security Council (NSC) said it is studying the possibility of banning TikTok among the government’s uniformed personnel to avoid possible "data leak."

Several countries, such as the United States, India, and Canada have announced moves to ban the Chinese company-owned TikTok on government phones and state workers amid concerns that the application might give sensitive data to the Chinese government.—LDF, GMA Integrated News