On June 2, 2023, the federal government issued an interim rule implementing the No TikTok on Government Devices Act applicable to any contract solicitations the agencies issue on or after June 2, contracts awarded before that date but performance on which begins after June 2, or existing federal contracts that are amended or modified after that date.
The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council determined that the presence or use of TikTok on covered IT poses "an unacceptable level of risk" to national security. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) has been amended to include a new contract clause, FAR 52.204-27, Prohibition on a ByteDance Covered Application, which will be included in federal contracts to implement the interim rule.
Because of the change to federal law, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) is issuing this policy on an emergency and expedited basis.
All UW–Madison employees, inclusive of all employee classes (faculty, academic staff, university staff, post-degree training appointees, graduate assistants, and student hourly employees) who are performing services in connection with a federal contract.
The interim rule prohibits government contractors (and subcontractors) from having or using the TikTok application (or any successor application or service provided by ByteDance Limited) 1)on any information technology (IT) owned or managed by the Government, or on 2) IT used or provided by a contractor in performance of a government contract, whether the IT is owned by the contractor or by a contractor employee.
UW-Madison:
Personally owned electronic devices that are not used in the performance of a federal contract are excluded from the FAR 52.204-27 requirements.
Note that in addition to the requirements of this policy, UW System policy, with limited exceptions, prohibits the installation of the TikTok application on any University-owned or managed device.
Compliance
The university will monitor federal regulatory changes to evaluate if existing policies will need to be updated to conform to the federal requirements.
The university will establish procedures to communicate with and train relevant personnel on the university policies and federal regulations.
Failure to comply with this policy may result in disciplinary action.
Exceptions
Limited exceptions to the rule for a specific agency program or operational action are available for law enforcement activities, national security interest and activities, and security research. As identified in OMB Memorandum M-23-13, exceptions must be granted by an agency head or their designee and are limited to one-year periods.
