TikTok will invest 12 billion euros over ten years in European data centers

TikTok says it will invest 12 billion euros over ten years in European data centers, among other things. The social medium already uses a data center in Ireland and has started setting up a new server park in the Hamar region in Norway. TikTok wants to comply with European laws.

In a blog post ByteDance’s Chinese platform explains its renewed plans for what it calls Project Clover, including the investment of 12 billion euros in European storage of user data of EU citizens. Previously the company had still an annual investment of 1.2 billion euros.

Part of the renewed amount has already been invested in the Irish data center, which has been put into use this year. The first of the three buildings in Norway is now being equipped with servers and should be put into use from the summer of 2024. The other two buildings at this location should be completed by the end of 2024, after which the location in question would be the largest data center in Europe. There will also be an additional data center in Ireland.

The amount will be spread over a period of ten years, but the company provides few further details about when and what exactly the money will be spent on. TikTok does explain that part of the investment will go to NCC Group, a cybersecurity company that will monitor data storage and flows to and from TikTok.

The social medium wants to use European data centers to remove concerns from EU supervisors about the processing of data of European citizens abroad. In addition, thanks to the GDPR, data may not simply be processed or stored outside Europe.