China's ByteDance announced on Monday that it is planning to set up a data center in India, stating that the initiative came about as the company mulled ways through which it can provide the needs of its massive Indian user base.
According to Reuters, Chinese tech company ByteDance said in a blog post over the weekend that the plans to establish an Indian-based data center were complementary to the firm's "constant endeavor to ensure that we have the best interests of our local users at heart."
The company previously said that India is one of its most solid marketplaces and it is looking to invest $1 billion into the country within a span of three years. However, the Chinese firm's TikTok app continues to face uncertainty under the Indian government.
In April, the video-sharing storing and sharing app was temporarily blacklisted in the country. TikTok appealed the case that was lodged on grounds of potential child exposure to predators. The ban was later lifted.
On the other hand, India's Ministry of Information and Technology has been hot on the heels of ByteDance. It requested answers from the company regarding its user data collection and privacy policies.
A number of Indian lawmakers have raised questions about content security on TikTok. Despite privacy concerns, the app remains popular among Indian social media users.
TikTok now has over 1 billion downloads on the international stage but Indian users account for 300 million downloads of the video app. Industry experts believe the data center could help build trust with global lawmakers.
It is worth noting that India is working on the Personal Data Protection Bill (PDP Bill) as the government seeks to protect the private information of Indian social media users. ByteDance noted that building a data center in the country "proves the company's appreciation of India's efforts" in relation to the PDP Bill.
Local human rights activists have been pressuring the government to establish more laws surrounding user data protection. While debates about the topic have been raging on for years, it appears that the PDP Bill has the highest chances of being passed.
Many experts support India's data protection efforts but others questioned how the bill could affect the country's digital economy targets. Some industry analysts said the PDP Bill's purpose limitation on personal data could pose threats to the innovations spearheaded by the digital economy.
The PDP Bill is looking to regulate and limit how companies around the world are profiling individual users of various apps and social media platforms. In the case of TikTok, ByteDance's methods of storing user data may get intervention from regulators.
