TikTok, Tesla Show US-China Battle Over Data Is Just Beginning

The US push to ban TikTok marks a new phase in its approach to data security that could eventually impact everything from electric vehicles to health care, reshaping trade relations between the world’s biggest economies.

President Joe Biden last week signed legislation barring Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd’s ownership of TikTok, a move aimed at preventing Beijing from accessing troves of data that the video sharing app collects from its 170 million American users. The law takes a page out of China’s playbook, viewing the potential misuse of data as a national security threat.

Although Beijing has long adopted far ...