In response to the US user data incident, TikTok's worldwide security chief is resigning.

The global chief security officer (CSO) of TikTok will leave that position and take on a new one as a strategic advisor. Concerns about the way the corporation is handling US user data led to Roland Cloutier's change in responsibilities. TikTok recently acknowledged that staff working outside the US had access to the data, despite the need for "strong cybersecurity controls and authorization" from its US security team.

The business effects of TikTok's security and trust programs will be subject to Cloutier's advice. Kim Albarella, who oversees security risk, vendor, and client assurance for TikTok, will temporarily take over as the organization's global security team leader.

In a memo to the TikTok workforce, CEO Shou Zi Chew stated, "Part of our growing approach has been to minimize concerns regarding the security of user data in the US, including the creation of a dedicated department to oversee US user data for TikTok." "Our data protection procedures will benefit greatly from this investment, which also alters the global chief security officer role's responsibilities. In light of this, Roland has decided to step down from his role as global CSO, effective September 2."

According to a TikTok spokesman, Cloutier is not in charge of the new team that looks after US customer data. Chew receives direct reports from that division. According to the spokeswoman, Cloutier's resignation was unrelated to lawmakers' worries about US data security, and the change had been planned for a few months.

In the past month, BuzzFeed News revealed that engineers from TikTok's parent firm ByteDance had repeatedly accessed private data on US TikTok users between at least last September and January. TikTok said that it was striving to remove such sensitive data from its servers and that it was currently storing all US user data on local Oracle cloud servers. This month, Chew wrote in a letter to a group of Republican senators that the business is committed to dispelling "any question regarding the security of US user data."