TikTok has opened its first European data centre in Dublin, Ireland.

Two other facilities are under construction to follow the Dublin site – a second in Ireland and another in Norway.

“We’ve committed to storing our European user data locally by default, by establishing three new data centres in Europe. Our first data centre in Dublin, Ireland, is now operational and migration of European user data to the centre has begun,” the social media giant said in a statement.

The new facilities will host data from TikTok users across the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK and Switzerland, and are part of TikTok’s ‘Project Clover’, a “programme focused on creating a secure enclave for European TikTok user data.”

The project came in response to concerns from Western governments about data storage and privacy, as well as TikTok’s potential links to the Chinese government.

In its statement, TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, continued, “We have engaged a third-party European security company to independently audit our data controls and protections, monitor data flows, provide independent verification, and report any incidents. We are pleased to announce that NCC Group will conduct this oversight of our data security measures.”