TikTok CEO says China-based ByteDance employees still have access to some U.S. data

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew told U.S. lawmakers that China-based employees at its parent company ByteDance may still have access to some U.S. data from the app but added that won’t be the case once its risk mitigation plan, called Project Texas, is complete.

The exchange is significant because it gets at the crux of U.S. officials’ fears about TikTok’s ownership and also shows how tricky and time-consuming untangling the app from its Chinese parent company can be.

Lawmakers and intelligence officials fear that U.S. user data could get into the hands of the Chinese government via ByteDance. That’s because Chinese law allows the government to obtain inside information from companies based there for purported national security purposes, as CNBC has reported.