TikTok Announces Plans To Build Second Data Centre In Ireland
Video-sharing platform TikTok is finalising plans for a second data centre in Ireland with a third-party service, in addition to a site it announced last year.
It is also in talks to establish a third data centre in Europe to further complement its planned operations in Ireland, TikTok said in an update on its investment plans for Europe, Bloomberg reported.
In April 2022, TikTok confirmed that it had signed contracts for a data centre in Dublin to house its UK and European user data.
"European TikTok user data will begin migrating this year, continuing into 2024," TikToK Europe General Manager of Operations Rich Waterworth said.
Ireland has become a focal point for Europe’s soaring hyperscale data centre market and TikTok’s update adds to recently announced plans from online behemoth Amazon that it wants to build three new data centres.
However, there have been warnings that Ireland’s energy infrastructure is struggling to keep up with the energy demands from data centres, with increasing concerns about the viability of a sector that is already outstripping Ireland’s rural buildings for power consumption.
TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance and has faced growing scrutiny over how it handles user data because of its links to China. In its update, TikTok said it remains focused on building trust with users by demonstrating to them that their data is secure.
"We're continuing to deliver against the data governance strategy we set out for Europe last year, which includes further reducing employee access to European user data; minimising data flows outside of Europe; and storing European user data locally," TikTok said in its statement.
The company said it will open its European Transparency and Accountability Centre in Dublin in March. TikTok announced plans to develop the centre in 2021, saying it would provide experts with an opportunity to visit and see firsthand how teams at TikTok go about the "critically important work" of securing its users' safety, data and privacy.
TikTok has had a presence in Ireland since 2019 and in June 2022 announced plans to create an additional 1,000 jobs in Ireland, on top of the 2,000 staff already employed. In line with other digital giants, in January 2023 it confirmed there would be a “small number” of layoffs as part of downsizing recruitment.
