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TikTok said the platform’s China-based parent company has made changes to the way Americans store their data, following new allegations that it has accessed data from US users.

According to leaked audio from more than 80 internal TikTok meetings obtained by Buzzfeed, engineers in China had access to US data between September 2021 and January 2022.

TikTok US security public policy officer Albert Calamug wrote on the company’s blog that TikTok has partnered with American technology company Oracle to create data management protocols that Oracle will oversee.

“We have changed the default storage location of US user data,” Mr. Calamug wrote on TikTok’s blog on Friday. “Today, 100% of US user traffic is directed to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. We still use our US and Singapore data centers for backup, but as we continue to work, we expect to delete the private data of US users from our own data centers and migrate to Oracle cloud servers located entirely in the US.”

TikTok has previously said that its US employees control the data of Americans on the video-based platform.

TikTok Vice President Michael Beckerman told the Senate Commerce Committee in October that access to Americans’ data is controlled by the US team, and he argued with Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz about China-based owner ByteDance’s access to people’s data.

Mr. Breckerman’s testimony stands in stark contrast to the private conversations of his colleagues, which appeared in the leaked audio recording of the company’s negotiations.

A member of TikTok’s trust and security team said everything was seen in China in September, and at another September meeting, an employee described the Beijing engineer as a “Main Administrator” with full access, according to Buzzfeed.

Lawmakers are racing a bit for answers from TikTok. Washington Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers said the technology wanted to reveal how Americans were sending their data to China.

“Home Energy and Commerce [Committee] Republicans have previously asked TikTok to testify for our committee and will continue to encourage Americans to give full and honest answers,” he said. “If they continue to refuse to appear before the committee, we will have to consider forcing their testimony.”

House Republicans aren’t the only lawmakers waiting for an explanation from TikTok. Six Republican senators wrote a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew requesting information about the company’s war in Ukraine, its policies of misinformation and disinformation regarding Russian state-sanctioned media.

The company’s failure to implement its own policies seems to have allowed a flood of Russian propaganda and reinforced the “Kremlin’s lies.” Lummis of Wyoming and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

“We are deeply concerned that, due to TikTok’s failure to implement this policy equally, pro-war propaganda is spreading to the Russian people, which risks contributing to an already devastating humanitarian death for Ukrainians and Russians alike,” the senators said. .