Michelle Donelan speaks out on Defence Secretary Grant Shapps’ ‘personal decision’ to use China-linked TikTok

Technology secretary defends Grant Shapps's use of China-linked app TikTokGood Morning Britain, ITV

Transcript

00:00 When it comes to TikTok, we've been very clear

00:02 that we've banned it on government devices

00:04 to protect sensitive information.

00:06 We've said that if you're going to use it

00:08 on a personal device, you obviously

00:10 need to be recognizing the type of data

00:13 that that app pulls and make sure that you are putting

00:19 in place mitigation.

00:20 So for instance, government ministers

00:23 wouldn't have sensitive information

00:25 on their personal phones.

00:26 They might have conversations with their wives

00:30 or their husbands about what they're

00:30 going to have for tea that night.

00:32 But they're not going to be doing government

00:33 work on their personal phones.

00:35 So it's just the government work that you are protecting.

00:39 You're not concerned about the defense secretary

00:41 and any personal information he might have on his phone

00:44 and TikTok being on that same device.

00:46 Well, that's a personal decision for the defense secretary.

00:49 I don't know whether it's on his personal phone.

00:51 But I think actually in this circumstance,

00:53 if my memory serves me right, it's

00:55 on one of his staffers' phones, not his actual personal phone.

00:58 But that is a decision completely and entirely down

01:01 to the defense secretary, not to me.