Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok has been fined €345 million ($369 million) for child data breaches in the latest move by European authorities against tech giants’ business practices.
The fine was imposed following a two-year investigation conducted by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC).
The Irish watchdog, which plays a pivotal role in shaping the strict General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) of the EU, has given TikTok three months to bring its data processing practices into compliance with its rules.
In September 2021, the DPC initiated an examination into TikTok’s compliance with GDPR regarding personal data processing and platform settings for users under 18 years old.
The investigation also scrutinized TikTok’s verification measures for users under 13 and found no infringements in this area. However, it revealed that the platform failed to adequately assess the risks associated with younger users who registered on the service.
In its ruling on Friday (September 15), the regulator pointed out that TikTok’s default setting for children’s accounts made them public upon registration, allowing anyone to view or comment on the content they uploaded.
The DPC also criticized TikTok’s “family pairing” mode, designed to link parents’ accounts to those of their children, stating that the company did not sufficiently verify the parental or guardian status.
Ireland has played a central role in the GDPR regime, hosting the European headquarters of TikTok, Google, Meta, and X in Dublin.
TikTok responded to the fine, stating that it “respectfully disagrees” with the verdict and is evaluating its next steps.
“The DPC’s criticisms are focused on features and settings that were in place three years ago, and that we made changes to well before the investigation even began, such as setting all accounts of users under 16 to private by default,” said a TikTok spokesperson in an interview with AFP.
The platform also mentioned that it closely monitors user ages and takes action as needed. TikTok reported that around 17 million accounts worldwide were deleted in the first three months of this year due to suspicions of being created by individuals under the age of 13.
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