TikTok Won''t Promise To Stop Transferring US Data To China: COO TikTok Won''t Promise To Stop Transferring US Data To China: COO TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas refused to commit to stopping the transfer of US data to China . During testimony in front of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Pappas was asked by Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) if the company would commit "to cutting off all data and data flows to China, China-based TikTok employees, ByteDance employees, or any other party in China that might have the capability to access information on US users?" Pappas repeatedly refused to answer the question - instead deflecting with a promise that the outcome of the company''s negotiations with the Biden administration would "satisfy all national security concerns," Metro reports. She assured lawmakers that TikTok does not operate in China, even though it had an office there. TikTok is essentially a Chinese company owned by ByteDance , whose founder is Chinese, with offices in China. Chinese national security law dictates that companies located there must cooperate with data requests from the government .