Chancellor deleted TikTok off phone because of questions over app's 'location tracking function'

16 March 2023, 19:16

Jeremy Hunt has revealed he deleted TikTok from his phone over concerns about the app's 'location tracking function'.

The Chancellor said the app is 'very addictive' and that his children do use it.

Speaking to Andrew Marr on LBC, Mr Hunt said: "I did take TikTok off my phone when I became Chancellor, because I just wasn't quite sure how the location tracking function worked on it.

"I have seen my kids looking at TikTok and it is very addictive."

Jeremy Hunt explains he deleted the app over concerns about the 'location tracking function'

Asked if he would tell his kids to delete it he said: “They're not doing a security sensitive job. There’s an ongoing battle about the amount of screen time my kids are allowed to have which happens every day in the Hunt household.”

His comments come after it was announced that TikTok will be banned on Government phones.

But the UK Government's TikTok ban will not extend to personal devices for civil servants, ministers or the general public.

Government departments and some ministers have embraced TikTok as a way of getting their message out to younger people.

Use of the app has exploded in recent years, with 3.5 billion downloads worldwide.