An email had been sent out Tuesday to lawmakers and employees with a strong recommendation that they delete the TikTok app if they have previously installed it, Danish parliamentary Speaker Søren Gade said.

The move comes after an assessment from Denmark’s Center for Cyber Security, which had said there was a risk of espionage.

TikTok, also known in China as Douyin, is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 3 seconds to 10 minutes.

TikTok has been subject to criticism over psychological effects such as addiction, as well as controversies regarding inappropriate content, misinformation, censorship, moderation, and user privacy.

Privacy concerns have also been brought up regarding the app. In its privacy policy, TikTok lists that it collects usage information, IP addresses, a user's mobile carrier, unique device identifiers, keystroke patterns, and location data, among other data.

Web developers Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk said that allowing videos and other content to be shared by the app's users through HTTP puts the users' data privacy at risk.

Multiple governmental agencies and private businesses have imposed or attempted to impose bans on the application. (ILKHA)