Assembly Committee Approves Sen. Dodd’s High-Risk App Ban for State Devices

SACRAMENTO – A bill from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, that would halt the installation of TikTok and all other high-risk social media applications on state-owned or issued equipment, including cell phones, cleared a key committee vote on Wednesday. The bill is an effort to boost cybersecurity in the face of unprecedented attacks on government devices.

“We can’t afford to trust documented bad actors like TikTok and let them access data from state devices,” Sen. Dodd said. “Keeping these apps off of state phones and computers is a commonsense way to prevent exposure of our sensitive material by way of surreptitious tracking or data breaches.”

Sen. Dodd’s proposal, Senate Bill 74, comes amid worldwide concern over cybersecurity threats posed by high-risk apps. Last fall, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned TikTok could be used for espionage by a non-democratic government. In response, nearly two dozen states have instituted limits for use of these apps on government-controlled devices. President Joe Biden has since approved a limited TikTok ban on federal devices, and the U.S. House of Representatives banned it on all of its devices. Previously, the U.S. military prohibited its members from using TikTok on government cell phones and computers.

Closer to home, the California Office of Emergency Services earlier this year announced the state’s cybersecurity integration center was responding to an incident in the state Department of Finance, underscoring the need to protect the state’s computer network. Technology news outlets reported a global ransomware group was behind the intrusion and claims to have stolen 76 gigabytes of data.

SB 74 seeks to prevent additional spying and security breaches through the use of high-risk apps. The bill, co-authored by a contingent of a dozen Democratic and Republican senators, was approved in the Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee with unanimous, bipartisan support. The bill goes next to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

“While individual consumers can make their own informed decisions, we cannot let these dangerous applications to be downloaded onto government issued devices, opening government accounts up to potential security threats,” said joint author, Sen. Brian Jones, R-San Diego. “We need to listen to security advisors throughout the world who are warning us that these types of applications are not safe.”

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Senator Bill Dodd represents California’s 3rd Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo, Sacramento, and Contra Costa counties. You can learn more about Senator Dodd at www.sen.ca.gov/dodd.