Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.204-27 (“FAR Clause”), which bans the downloading of TikTok and related apps on certain devices, applies to certain federal contracts. Grants and other non-contract federal awards are not subject to this FAR Clause.
The federal contracts most likely to be subject to the FAR Clause are funded by the Department of Defense and NASA. Other federal funders may require compliance with the FAR Clause on specific contracts, and will notify the university in that case.
The FAR Clause prohibits the use or presence of the TikTop app on information technology (“IT”), including computers and cell phones, used in the performance of a covered contract. The prohibition applies regardless of ownership of the IT, but does not apply to IT that (1) is not used to a “significant extent in” the performance of a covered contract, or (2) is “incidental to” the performance of such a contract.
If you have a question about the applicability of the FAR Clause to a specific contract, please reach out to your grants and contracts associate to discuss further.