ByteDance is said to be building a new, US-only version of the TikTok app that it will release on September 5. According to The Information, the company is moving ahead with this plan to comply with legislation requiring it to sell its TikTok business in the US or face a nationwide ban.The report suggests that folks in the US will have to switch to the new app (dubbed "M2") in order to keep using TikTok. It's said that ByteDance will remove the existing TikTok app (which the company internally calls "M") from US app stores when the new one debuts. It's believed that the current version of the app will stop working in the US next March, though that timeline may shift.This is the latest development in a long-running saga over the future of TikTok in the US. A law that former President Joe Biden signed last year gave ByteDance a deadline of January 19 to sell its US TikTok business or face a ban in the country. President Donald Trump took office on January 20 and swiftly paused enforcement of the law - he has delayed it twice more since then. As things stand, the ban is set to take effect on September 17.In late June, Trump said there was a buyer in place for TikTok's US operations. He claimed that a "group of very wealthy people" is set to buy the app and that the identity of the collective would become clear in "about two weeks" - so around June 13. Trump added that the deal would likely need approval from the Chinese government since ByteDance is based in China, but said on Friday that he was "not confident" of getting it rubber stamped. On Monday, a Chinese government spokesperson dodged a question related to Trump's claims.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/us-tiktok-users-may-soon-have-to-switch-to-a-new-version-of-the-app-110013943.html?src=rss

TikTok is in more regulatory hot water. Only a couple of months after it slapped TikTok with a hefty fine over data transfers to China, Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) is opening a fresh investigation into the platform.During the previous probe, TikTok claimed that European Economic Area (EEA) user data was stored on servers outside China. It said that TikTok staff in China accessed such data remotely. The DPC concluded the investigation on April 30 and fined TikTok 530 million euros ($620 million at current exchange rates). But that investigation and subsequent penalty didn't take into consideration any storage of EEA users data stored on server in China.However, earlier in April, TikTok informed the DPC it discovered in February that "limited EEA user data" had been stored on servers in China after all, though it claimed that it had deleted the information. This revelation, which the DPC said "is contrary to TikTok's evidence to the previous inquiry," prompted the latest investigation. The DPC is seeking to determine whether TikTok has breached the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation.TikTok, like many other major tech enterprises, has its European headquarters in Ireland. As such, the DPC is the EU's primary regulator for the platform.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/eu-regulators-are-once-again-investigating-tiktok-over-data-transfers-to-china-124658844.html?src=rss