the times | Thursday August 6 2020 1GM 33
Business
$500 million in the location, which is
yet to be announced, and promised
hundreds of new jobs. It hopes to have
the centre built within two years.
The announcement came as ru-
mours swirl that TikTok will open a
new international headquarters in
London, after the government said that
it would not block such a move.
The video-sharing app has found it-
self at the centre of a spat between the
Trump administration and China over
how it handles users’ data. The US has
said that TikTok’s American services
must be acquired by a domestic com-
pany or igt will be banned over con-
cerns that it could siphon data to the
Chinese government if asked to do so.
Bytedance has always strongly denied
it would accept such a request.
Started only three years ago, TikTok
is the first Chinese app to be a global hit,threatening America’s dominance of
the digital economy. TikTok has been
downloaded more than two billion
times and has 100 million US users.
Its growth has rattled Facebook,
which introduced its second TikTok
clone yesterday in an attempt to win
over fans. Instagram’s Reels went live in
50 countries, including Britain and
India, where TikTok has been banned.
TikTok said that the plan to open a
new data centre in Ireland had been in
the works before Mr Trump suggested
he might ban the app in the US.
Theo Bertram, TikTok’s director of
public policy in Europe, said: “This is an
important symbol of our commitment
to the long term in Europe and it shows
the importance of Ireland for us.”
Mr Bertram, a former adviser to
Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, said
that the move would help to allay con-cerns after a recent decision by the EU’s
top court, which ruled that the way in
which data is transferred by most
companies across the Atlantic does not
protect the rights of European citizens.
“You can look in Europe and see that
there are concerns about data transfer
[to the US]. I think one could perceive a
gradual movement towards how that
might shake out over time and this will
give our users more confidence in
Europe to know it’s on European
servers,” Mr Bertram said.
In the US, Microsoft may be near to
finalising its plans to take over TikTok’s
American business and secure a deal
before Mr Trump’s mid-September
deadline. The software group and Byte-
dance hope to strike the deal within
three weeks, CNBC reported yesterday.
Simon Nixon, Simon Duke, page 37
Who’s Afraid of TikTok? Times2commodities currencies
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Jul 8 16 24 Aug 3 Jul 8 16 24 Aug 3 Jul 8 16 24 Aug 3 Jul 8 16 24 Aug 3 Jul 8 16 24 Aug 3 Jul 8 16 24 Aug 3Pledge on security of European users’ data amid US storm
TikTok to build $500m
digital centre in Ireland
Tom Knowles, Simon DukeTikTok is to open its first data centre in
Europe in a $500 million investment,
cementing the company’s determina-
tion to remain active outside the United
States in the face of a potential ban by
President Trump.
Bytedance, the Chinese owner of the
popular video-sharing app, said that
TikTok would build its third data centre,
picking Ireland alongside its two exist-
ing bases in America and Singapore.
TikTok said the move would mean
that information on British and Euro-
pean users would be hosted on Irish
servers, giving people confidence “that
their data is secure and that we are pro-
tecting their privacy”. The move high-
lights TikTok’s efforts to promote its
protection of data amid US criticism.
The company said it would investHotels offer
distracted
home workers
a little privacy
Dominic Walsh
Time was when hotel guests trying to
book a day-let would be met with
knowing glances on the front desk. They
may have requested a room in which to
“freshen up” for a couple of hours, but
the receptionists knew the real reason.
However, the latest day-let offer from
Accor, the hotel operator, has nothing to
do with romantic assignations or secret
trysts. Its “hotel office” concept is aimed
at people who are tired of the distrac-
tions of working from home but reluc-
tant or unable to travel to the office.
Workers seeking respite from bark-
ing spaniels or neighbours revving their
vintage tractor collection can book a
room in an Accor hotel from 9am to
6pm that provides “an uninterrupted,
premium working experience”.
The chain said a survey of 2,000 UK
office staff working from home because
of coronavirus had found that half
wished they had a better work-life bal-
ance, while almost a quarter said distrac-
tions meant they were less productive.
It said that a daytime booking would
enable professionals “to escape back-
ground noise, ensuring uninterrupted
work and the opportunity to conduct
calls in a private, peaceful environment”.
Guests can take advantage of the full
range of food and drinks facilities,
including breakfast, snack or lunch on
the go. They also can earn points
towards the Accor loyalty programme.
Accor, which was founded in 1960 by
Paul Dubrule and Gérard Pélisson in
Paris, has expanded into one of the
world’s biggest hospitality companies,
with more than 5,000 hotels and resi-
dences under 39 brands. It owns the
Novotel, Ibis, Pullman, Sofitel, Fair-
mont and Raffles brands.
James Wheatcroft, vice-president of
marketing for Accor Northern Europe,
said: “With millions of people adapting
to new ways of working, we have been
inspired to support this trend by offer-
ing a unique office experience, blending
the need for quiet, dedicated working
spaces with all the amenities of a hotel.”
The scheme is available in 250 hotels
across the UK and 70 in northern
Europe,, with further expansion
expected in the next few weeks. It is also
being offered in Bangkok, India and
parts of Latin America.
Accor is offering the concept at most
of its brands, from the upmarket Fair-
mont and Sofitel hotels to the two-star
Ibis brand, with rates typically set at a
discount to the average overnight rate.
Asked whether the company was
afraid that the hotel office concept
might be used as cover for more nefari-
ous activities, a spokeswoman for Accor
said: “I’d be very surprised.”
I
t is as much a cliché of
Cambridge as punts
passing underneath the
Mathematical Bridge or
undergraduates cycling
through the city, shirts
billowing, bells tinkling
(Robert Lea writes). Now
students late for asupervision or trying to
catch last orders have an
alternative: the e-scooter.
Hundreds of scooters are
to arrive on Cambridge’s
streets in time for the new
term at a cost of £1-a-time
plus 20p a minute, or £10 a
day, or £40 a month, afterthe city embraced the e-
scooter craze by handing
an exclusive contract to
Voi, a Swedish group.
There will be discounts
for key workers and
those on low incomes.
The award follows the
transport department’sdecision last month to
legalise the rental of the
15mph machines that
can be — and often are
— left anywhere.
Cambridge is ahead of
its Varsity rival. Oxford
has yet to start its
tender for e-scooters.Scoot! It may
be time to
ditch the bike
in Cambridge