Tiktok fined €345m for mishandling of children’s data in EU

• TikTok is a Chinese-owned short-video platform.
• TikTok has over 1.1 billion monthly active users.
• The EU implemented its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018.

Following an investigation announced by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) in 2021 looking into TikTok’s compliance with EU’s GDPR laws, the company has been fined €345  million (around $367 million).

The investigation found that the sign-up process for teen users resulted in settings that made their accounts public by default, allowing anyone to view and comment on their videos. Also, the DPC found children’s accounts could be linked to profiles that the company hadn’t verified belonged to a parent or guardian.

Under the EU’s GDPR, the lead regulator for any company can impose fines of up to 4% of the firm’s global revenue.

During a hearing in the European Parliament earlier this year, the DPC’s commissioner Helen Dixon was questioned about the sluggish response from regulators on child safety concerns arising from kids’ use of TikTok.

The violations occurred between July 31, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2929, according to the DPC’s statement.

The regulator is still carrying out a second investigation into whether TikTok complied with the EU’s GDPR when it transferred users’ data to china, where ByteDance, TikTok-owner, is based.