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TikTok was fined £12.7 million ($15.8 million) by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for improper handling of children’s data. The regulator found that the ByteDance-owned app did not adequately secure children’s personal information or acquire parental consent.
TikTok’s controversy over data misuse is not limited to the United States. Regulators from all over the globe have been investigating TikTok due to concerns about its privacy practices. The app has drawn flak for gathering videos, phone numbers, and location information on minors without getting permission from their parents.
In 2019, the ICO opened an inquiry into TikTok due to numerous complaints. The same year, TikTok was penalized $5.7 million by the US Federal Trade Commission over claims that it had improperly collected data from minors under the age of 13.
By failing to offer sufficient protection for children’s data, TikTok was also found to have violated the UK’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to the UK regulator.
TikTok comes under fire in the UK over misusing children’s data
According to the ICO announcement, TikTok allowed 1.4 million UK kids aged under 13 to use the app, and the app did nothing to identify and remove underage users. Some TikTok senior employees reportedly raised concerns about active underage users in the app.
The regulator discovered that TikTok did not properly secure parental permission before collecting children’s data. The agency further claimed that TikTok did not adequately notify users of how it manages the data at its disposal. The ICO concludes that TikTok did not “lawfully, fairly, and transparently” safeguard the data of UK users.
TikTok told ABC News, “We invest heavily to help keep under-13s off the platform and our 40,000-strong safety team works around the clock to help keep the platform safe for our community.” The app also says it will “continue to review the decision and are considering next steps.”
Since Trump’s administration, TikTok has been labeled a threat to US national security, and things haven’t gotten better since then. The app CEO has recently appeared in Congress to testify about the policies and their ties with the Chinese government. TikTok is now at the edge of getting banned in the US, which greatly affects its 150 million users in the country.
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