TikTok sought to reassure US senators this week that it is taking all necessary steps to limit access to user data from outside the United States, including by employees of its parent company, Chinese group ByteDance. The social media company responded in a letter Thursday to questions from nine Republican US senators about its data retention and access policies. The letter was originally published by the New York Times, but TikTok has since confirmed its contents to AFP. In response to previous inquiries from US authorities, TikTok indicated in mid-June that all of its data about US-based users is now…