MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WHNT) — TikTok, the most popular app on the Internet, is banned on State of Alabama devices and the state’s network, according to a new memo from Governor Kay Ivey.

In the memo sent to the heads of all state agencies, Ivey said the ban comes in an effort to protect the state’s IT infrastructure.

“National security officials have warned of growing threats posed by the video-sharing app TikTok,” Ivey stated. “TikTok is owned by a Chinese parent company and thus potentially subject to Chinese laws enabling its data to be shared with the Chinese Communist Party.”

Ivey claimed in the memo that the app “harvests vast amounts of data from its users.”

According to BBC News, TikTok collects data on which videos users watch and comment on, a user’s location, the user’s phone model and operating system, and the keystroke rhythms used when you type. The company claims that collected data is stored outside of China.

“Use of TikTok involving state IT infrastructure thus creates an unacceptable vulnerability to Chinese infiltration operations,” Ivey continued.

News 19 spoke with former U.S. Attorney Jay Town on the issue.

“There’s a law in China that forces all companies that operate in China to give all information that may be useful to the Communist Chinese Party and so ByteDance, which is a Chinese company, owns TikTok,” Town explained. “When TikTok gets your personal identifiable information [or] your IP address, it has access to your emails, your videos, your photos, your contacts — all the information that is sort of on our devices.”

“Think of that, so on a government device, especially there are contracts, there are contacts for dignitaries, information on important people in the state law enforcement,” he continued.

Ivey’s decision comes on the heels of bans in other states like Maryland, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nebraska, and most recently, Texas.