>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news. ♪ kristen: hi there. you are watching "getting answers" on abc7. every day, we talk with experts about issues important to the bay area and we get answers for you in real time. today, a new state senate bill aims to require all california high schools to make condoms available to students. we will talk with the student organization leading this push to look at the issue. also this week's storm revealed san francisco's 911 system is at the breaking point. the san francisco standard discovered the city is nowhere near meeting there 911 call response time standards -- their 911 call response time standards. we will explore solutions. the ceo of tiktok, in the hot

seat today on capitol hill growth whether the app is safeguarding americans' data against chinese government access. >> our approach has never been to dismiss or trivialize any of these concerns. we have addressed them with real action. the bottom line is this, american data stored on american soil by an american company overseen by american personnel. we call this initiative project texas. kristen: that was the tiktok ceo before house lawmakers today. joining us live now is a reporter that's been following this tech story very closely. thanks for your time. >> thank you for having me. kristen: an extraordinary hearing. explain how this hugely popular video app is now a national security concern. >> this was interesting to see. tiktok has been under fire for a long time from lawmakers, from

congress. the issue is is a fear that tiktok owned by a company called bytedance based in china, that tiktok would be used to -- would be forced to share u.s. data with the government. the other fear is the chinese government could sway the algorithm. you know that tiktok feeds you content that usually is catered to your interests. the fear here is that they could sway the algorithm to show you content that could include misinformation or include something positive about the chinese government. really what it boils down to his user security and also just protecting young people around this app. as we know, this is very popular among teens. kristen: how popular? how many users here in the u.s.? >> star 100 50 million users in the u.s. and is growing very quickly -- >> there are 150 million users in the u.s. and it is growing very quickly.

it has seen x financial growth. worldwide and has about one billion users. it's growing very quickly. kristen: about a third of americans are on this app. is the fear rooted in the fact that chinese laws allow the government to compel these companies, if they so choose, to turn over the data? >> it's different, because you think about, there is a lot of headbutting between the u.s. government and the chinese government. the u.s. has been concerned about the chinese government for a long time and the ways that it uses data. the chinese government has banned american apps as well. there's been a lot of headbutting there. a concern as there may not be the same protections available in the u.s. that's why president biden's administration is encouraging or pressuring tiktok to spin off from his chinese parent company. they've been saying if tiktok doesn't break away from byte

dance, they could ban the app completely, a bit not owned by an american company. kristen: the pressure to sell has been going on since the trumpet ministration. it's already been banned by federal agencies. >> many states have banned tech talk government devices. a bill aims to give the administration the power to ban it on all devices if it is not -- if it does not break away from bytedance. they are looking for ways to extend the ban even further. kristen: today the ceo said american data is stored on american soil by an american company overseen by american personnel -- clearly saying there's no reason for concern even if the chinese government cemented data. how solid is that firewall actually? is it as solid as he tried to make it out to be? >> it is hard to say.

this is where there is a lot of disagreement. tiktok has been saying everything is secure and we do everything in our power to make sure u.s. user data is safe and lawmakers say it is not enough. the an antithesis that this is being stored on american soil and only -- angina cannot access this. they keep saying this. -- and china cannot access this. they keep saying this. it's not really clear just how secure that data might be. kristen: right. is the reverse situation not a problem, in that china has banned american social media forms like facebook, instagram, snapchat? that is over censorship, but i guess there's no worry that chinese people using american apps or american created apps could have their data taken by the u.s. government somehow. there's no reverse here. >> is an interesting point.

that is something tiktok has brought up as well. we see apps like facebook, like the whole cambridge analytica scandal. saying that a company like tiktok should be owned by the u.s. will solve all these problems might not necessarily be true. a lot of social media apps have been under scrutiny regardless of who owns them. it is interesting to think about. there are arguments about will that solve the issue or to their need to be more guard rules in place regardless of who owns these companies, users are protected? kristen: i want to address something the republican house energy chair said this morning. >> we do not trust tiktok will ever embrace american values. tiktok has repeatedly chosen the path for more control, more surveillance, and more manipulation. kristen: ok, has there been any evidence of surveillance and manipulation yet? >> there was one instance where bytedance acknowledged some employees based in china

actually accessed sensitive data on a few americans, including some journalists. that did not look good or support the case. tiktok is saying people cannot access this data. that was one incident that we know of. but there are not any other -- there isn't any other firm evidence that tiktok has given data to the chinese government. that is still something that has not happened, that we know of. the fear among lawmakers is that this could potentially happen and that is why they are trying to create these protections from now. kristen: so did the ceo propose any potential solutions today? >> he really pushed this project called project texas which is making sure that -- acknowledging all the data will be stored in the u.s. and on servers run in the u.s. and other chinese government, they will not access that. pushing this idea that they are doing everything in their power to protect user data and they really don't think it's going to solve anything to spin off

tiktok from bytedance. kristen: obviously there is the nationstate concern. what about individual americans? people are not worried at all? you as a user, you are a journalist, that is a different consideration -- but any individual concerns about giving data to this company the way we give data all those other companies like facebook? >> absolutely. if you really have to be careful no matter what platform you are using. a lot of these companies collect a lot of data about you. it is interesting because a lot of us are very hooked on platforms like tiktok. it is addicting, and they know it. you have to proceed with caution. one way to make sure that you are protecting your data is making sure that you are not giving tiktok access to your contacts. also make sure it is not tracking you outside of the app. another way to protect yourself is you can just scroll through tiktok on a guest account so you don't have to make an account. it doesn't have to know who you are. or if you want to set up an account, you can make a more

anonymous one without a lot of personal information. the bottom line is, think about how much data you are giving these apps, tiktok, instagram, facebook, they are gathering information about you. kristen: that's a good point. is not just tiktok -- it's not just tiktok. you might want to consider those settings on other apps as well. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. kristen: a student social justice group is pushing lawmakers to make all public high schools require to provide free condoms to students. we will talk to one of the teens advocating for the bill to be here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. the three what? the three ps? what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford,

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california to provide free condoms to students starting this fall. a student social justice group had a big role in pushing lawmakers to address a problem they see as streaming teens for seeking health care -- shaming teens for seeking health care. joining us as a co-policy director at generation up and some high school. welcome to the show. this is sb 541, requiring high schools to handle condoms to students for free, anything else it would require? >> it would ensure that students are being given condoms on school campuses. there is an hp vaccine push -- hpv vaccine push however the generation has not been active on that push. kristen: do you know if they would require school districts to actually pay for the condoms or would it be additional budget coming from the legislature? >> i believe that's more of a

technical question that essential access and one of the main cosponsors of the bill could sort of provide more information on. kristen: your group pushed for this because you think it will solve some problems among high school students. talk to us about that. >> of course. the bill is essentially expanding teen access to internal and external condoms and hpv vaccines. a real big issue is that students are being sort of -- students are being discriminate against when purchasing condoms and contraceptive materials. we are being shamed and harassed and they don't have easy access to these. individuals are being disseminated against when trying to obtain resources to prevent sti's. this is an issue that should not be happening. especially amongst the youth population. aunt teens -- and teens have conflicting issues and barriers like financial barriers, racial

barriers, age barriers, transportation barriers. when they are simply just try to protect their health and bodies. and there shouldn't be this much stigma around this issue when there is simply -- when they simply tried to protect themselves. kristen: i could see the cost issue for teens. let's say average a dollar apiece that could add up. in terms of the discrimination when trying to buy, what do you mean by that? >> yeah, so, black and brown youth especially are being -- at local pharmacies -- they've actually tried to purchase condoms and they are colored individuals and they want to local pharmacies trying to get contraceptives but they did not leave the pharmacy with contraceptives or condoms in their hands because they were essentially being shamed or harassed, and this was because of their color. that is what i mean by racially discriminate against. -- discriminated against. kristen: there were some cases

of people being id, but i don't think there is a minimum age for buying condoms. have you seen a rise in sexually transmitted diseases or unintended pregnancies amongst high school students? >> there definitely is an increase in sexual adjustment it does exist and unintended pregnancies, making the bill all the more important to ensure that youth are getting this access, easy access to ensure health and safety. just the sort of touch point you were talking about a little bit before, condoms do not have an age requirement, however students, especially youth, are being discriminated against because of their age one getting the contraceptives. that is another big thing to note. making it all the more important that they are easily accessible in schools. kristen: look to criticism that i often hear with regard to this bill -- the two criticisms i often hear with regard to this

bill is, one, could it increase sexual activity, and two, why is it the school's responsibility? why should that be the point of distribution? how do you answer those points? >> i definitely believe that it is the school's response ability. -- school's responsibility. i believe that it's not sort of increasing sexual activity. it's giving resources and bridging this equity gap with the resources the youth receive. it is not promoting sex among the youth population. youth already active are getting the resources they need to stay safe. it is a really big sort of issue that schools should be giving these resources to students. because schools are already implementing -- giving students robust information about sexual education.

but where are the resources? students are not being given these resources on school campuses to practice safe sex but are being taught safe sex. with all these barriers that add up, it is also the school's sort of mission to ensure that students are going and staying on campus healthy and safe and off are also healthy and safe. providing resources to prevent those as well. there's a really big equity gap. schools in l.a. and san francisco have condoms in their schools but rural areas like mine, riverside, schools don't provide condoms to us flat out. and that is absolutely sort of inequitable. there's a big equity gap. we need to bring condoms where students are at without all these barriers to ensure they are stil -- they are staying healthy and safe. kristen: they have been doing this for almost 30 years. condoms will be fully covered to women under medi-cal and most

health insurance is by next year. but uninsured teens and males will not be able to get them for free. i want to close with giving you the opportunity to say in addition to this bill, which you hope will pass, what else do you think the state should be providing to teens? >> i definitely believe that schools and the state should be putting youth at the forefront of youth centered issues. youth, when talking about issues pertaining to youth, youth voices should be at the forefront and schools especially in california should be ensuring that they are giving resources and education for students to stay safe and healthy. and i believe that is the main part of it. including the california healthy youth act. i'm ensuring we are giving robust information and resources and education -- adding onto the california healthy youth act to ensure they are staying health and safety right now -- healthy and safe right now and in the future. kristen: thank you so much for your time today.

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number of 911 calls that were coming into the dispatch center. we even saw the director of the department of emergency management send out a tweet saying, please only call 911 in a life-threatening situation. because we are seeing really long wait times to get through the dispatchers. kristen: do you know how long the wait times were and how that compares to normal? >> i asked the d to give us that data. they have not shared it. kristen: but is longer than they want -- it's longer than they want. you have data about how it's been more than their standards would dictate. >> unfortunately for months not, the department has really struggled to meet its standard for answering mineral one calls. -- answering 911 calls. they want to answer 95% of calls within 15 seconds. that has not happened in years, actually.

in fact, in december, the most recent month with a full month of data, about a quarter of people were left waiting more than 15 seconds before 911 answer. kristen: is it safe to say that it wasn't just this tuesday's storm? but throughout our winter with all the storm emergencies, we have seen this, would you say it goes back further to the wildfires? just i guess i'm trying to gauge and pass -- in past recent disasters how the city has fared. >> unfortunately, the way data is presented, we only have monthly totals. it is a little hard to speak about specific days where there were big storms. but of course we can say with confidence that when these big events happen, like storms, wildfires, there's going to be a major influx of calls coming in, a stress further system.

kristen: why didn't the system past the stress test tuesday? what are the root problems? >> so, i can see that -- s that historically, for the last couple of months or years, the department has struggled with understaffing. a lot of that goes back to the head of the pandemic. understaffing that so many departments in san francisco and many across the country have faced. there was a hiring freeze, people leaving. i've been trying to staff up, but it's been challenging for the department. the 911 dispatch center gave me a call and said that tuesday they were fully staffed up and had extra shifts coming on, but it was such a large volume of calls, that it was really a challenging moment. kristen: does this have anything at all to do with the upgrading that is going on? oes regular facilities need upgrading so they moved up temporarily.

is that preventing smoother efficiencies from going on as well? >> that's a great question. it's worth looking into. i'm not sure about the answer. kristen: what is the solution, if not being fully staffed? what is the plan in the short term? >> i know the department has brought on a recruiter because they want to get in more candidates to become dispatchers. the big challenge here is that it takes 10 months from the moment someone applies until they can actually get hired, because it is this whole process to get someone hired into a city job. then another 10 months to get them trained up, so they can answer calls on their own. we could be looking at years before the department is back to full staffing levels. kristen: at least two years. even with people wanting to be trained wanting this job,. if that is the case, i wonder if this is causing a lot of stress to existing dispatchers. have you talked to them about

it? >> that's another question, i did not have the opportunity to speak to a dispatcher. but i can only imagine. kristen: right. how does this fit into the larger picture of san francisco's emergency response system? >> we unfortunately have seen delays across all aspects of the emergency response system. we have heard reports from city emergency rooms that people are waiting hours to see a doctor in the emergency department. that leaves ambulances helping at the hospitals -- waiting at the hospitals to bring patients in. that backs up the 911 getting ambulances that within their standards for ambulance response. the whole system has been facing these chronic back logs. kristen: and the worries, being in san francisco,

you always have the threat of the big one which will -- right, it's a matter of time. >> absolutely. yeah. do they respond -- did they respond to your story? >> the department did not initially respond to the story. i got a call about a minute before i came on here so i will give them that credit. although i wish i had a longer time to talk to them. kristen: i will let you go right now so you can respond to that call and see what they say. keep us posted in your latest article. thank you, noah. you can check out noah's reporting and more of the san francisco standard'

kristen: thank you so much for joining us today for "getting answers."

we will be here every weekday at 3:00 p.m. answering questions with experts from around the bay area. "world news tonight" with david muir is next. see you at 4:00. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption conten ♪ ♪ >> tonight, breaking news, emergency meeting after it has school student shoots two faculty members, we learned the student had been kicked out of the school before because of a weapon. and the passenger plane the captain incapacitated, fainting midflight, a pilot from another airline happened to be on board. first, this emergency meeting after that shouldn't students two staff members, his body found overnight 50 miles from the school. authorities have revealed he had been kicked out of that other school because of concerns and because of a weapon. parents tonight demanding answers on all of this with mola lenghi in denver. tonight, this question in another case, should the parents of a school shooter in michigan be held criminally resns