TikTok has reached a new milestone in its efforts to meet European data privacy regulations, announcing that its third and final data center in Norway is now operational. The facility, part of TikTok’s broader “Project Clover” initiative, is intended to ensure that user data from the European Union is stored locally and inaccessible to China-based personnel.
Project Clover was introduced in response to growing scrutiny from EU regulators over potential data transfers to China. TikTok’s latest update confirms that all three buildings in its Hamar, Norway data center – developed by Green Mountain – are now online. These centers, along with facilities in Ireland and the U.S., will serve as default storage locations for EU user data.
To strengthen its compliance posture, TikTok has enlisted cybersecurity firm NCC Group to independently audit and verify its data handling practices. According to the company, the group recently confirmed that TikTok’s data collection aligns with its European Privacy Policy.
The announcement comes at a critical time. TikTok is facing a €514 million (approximately $552 million) fine from the Irish Data Protection Commission for past transfers of EU user data to China. This investigation was one of the catalysts for launching Project Clover, but the penalty will still stand despite the platform’s ongoing reforms.
In total, TikTok’s data infrastructure buildout in Europe has cost parent company ByteDance roughly $13 billion. As it looks to recoup those investments, the company is ramping up its e-commerce efforts in Europe, expanding its TikTok Shop tools amid stagnating adoption in Western markets. Given the uneasy future of the platform in the U.S., the investments in the EU may end up being worth it if TikTok is forced to focus on other markets in the future.
