There are upcoming and significant changes necessitated by a new state law that was recently signed by the governor. This law requires all state agencies, including Virginia Tech, to cease use of TikTok, WeChat, and other applications developed by ByteDance or Tencent for any official purposes (with one exception described below), effective July 1, 2023

Question:  How do I handle calls or incidents related to applications that are restricted by state or federal law?

Answer: Provide the user with an overview of the situation as outlined below and then point them to official communication resources. If necessary, assist them with removing or uninstalling an app. 

This law mandates that university personnel:

• Stop posting content or interacting with posts through any social media accounts that exist on these platforms.
• TikTok and related applications are also to be removed from all university-owned devices and are not to be accessed over the university’s wired or wireless networks.

The law passed emphasizes concerns surrounding data privacy, security vulnerabilities, and the potential misuse of these applications. In alignment with the state's priorities and commitment to safeguarding sensitive data, we are taking proactive measures to ensure compliance with the new law.

The IT Security Office will work with Network Infrastructure and Services to block access to TikTok, along with other applications developed by ByteDance and Tencent, on devices that connect to our networks. Additionally, all employees and staff should cease using social media accounts associated with these applications for university business or on university-owned devices.

It is imperative that all university-owned devices have these apps promptly deleted to ensure compliance.  The only exception to this change is for use of these applications by the Virginia Tech Police Department in the exercise of investigations, threat assessment, or other law-enforcement activities.

For more information on how to support these changes,

refer to this webpage that includes key information and answers to frequently asked questions.

If you receive a call or portal incident, please do the following:

1.  If a user calls inquiring about information related to the changes, put in a CALL MODULE record and refer them to the webpage https://it.vt.edu/projects/app-restrictions.html
   1. Use the 'State Restricted Application' dropdown to classify the Call Module record.

2. If a user calls or puts in a portal incident stating they need assistance with removing or uninstalling an app, ON A PERSONAL DEVICE or has a specific issue related to the app, document their issue in an INCIDENT, use the following configuration item:  'State Restricted Application' and send them the following instructions:

1. 1. Android:  https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/2521768?hl=en 
      1. Open the Google Play Store app.
      2. At the top right, tap the Profile icon.
      3. Tap Manage apps & devices. Manage.
      4. Tap the name of the app you want to delete.
      5. Tap Uninstall.

b. Apple: https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/remove-apps-iph248b543ca/ios#:~:text=Remove%20an%20app%20from%20the,Delete%20App%2C%20then%20tap%20Delete.

1. 1. 1. Remove an app from the Home Screen:
      2. Touch and hold the app on the Home Screen
      3. tap Remove App, then tap Remove from Home Screen to keep it in App Library or tap Delete App to delete it from iPhone.
      4. Delete an app from App Library and Home Screen: Touch and hold the app in App Library, tap Delete App, then tap Delete.

3.  If a user calls or puts in a portal incident stating they need assistance with removing or uninstalling an app, ON A STATE-OWNED DEVICE, or has a specific issue related to the app, document their issue in an INCIDENT, use the following config item:  'State Restricted Application'.