TikTok and UK Researcher Impact

In June 2023, the federal government issued an interim rule that prohibits use of the social media app TikTok on any device being used in furtherance of a contract or project funded by federal monies. That includes UK-owned devices, as well as devices that are the employee’s own but used for work as part of a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) program. There are still some questions as to the scope of this rule, and the UK Office of Legal Counsel is working to provide more general guidance to the university community. Until further university-wide guidance is given, Legal Counsel advises that UK employees should not have TikTok on any devices being used for work or use TikTok for research study recruitment purposes. For more information, see FAR contract clause FAR 52.204-27 Prohibition on a ByteDance Covered Application.