Bytedance starts building local data centre in India after lawmakers complain of data privacy

China-based tech firm Bytedance, the parent company of popular short video application TikTok and Helo, has started building a local data centre in India.

Bytedance is mapping out the locations and other details, to set up the data centre within a year-and-half.

The company is looking options for safe, secure and reliable services for our Indian users within India's borders, Bytedance said in a statement.

Till date, the Chinese firm has stored data of Indian users in US and Singapore through third-party data centres.

The development has come after many lawmakers and organisations complaint against the Chinese firms alleging illegal data sharing of Indian users data to the Chinese government.

Last week, the Centre has also issued notices to TikTok and its sister app Helo warning them of a possible ban if they fail to give reasonable answers to govt questions. The notice was issued after complaints filed by Swadeshi Jagran Manch about anti-national activity on social apps.

In India, the Chinese firm has about 300 million MAU across three of its main products- TikTok, Vigo Video and Helo.

Earlier, in April, Tiktok was banned for four weeks by Madras HC over its content.

Meanwhile, Bytedance plans to invest $1 billion in India business, counting it as one of its largest markets. It has also appointed Sameer Singh CEO of GoupM as Vice President, Monetisation in India.

Other Chinese firms such as Xiaomi and Alipay have also announced to store Indian users data locally. However, still, tech firms like Google and Facebook have been resisting local data provisions citing privacy concerns.

The drafted Personal Data Protection Bill is yet to be tabled in the Parliament.