The UK privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), announced it is looking into fining TikTok £27 million for breaching UK data protection laws. The ICO is of the opinion that TikTok fails to protect its underage users’ privacy.
While the fine isn’t final yet, the ICO issued TikTok Inc and TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited with a ‘notice of intent’, expressing the potential fine.
The specific allegations are that TikTok may have:
- processed the data of children under the age of 13 without appropriate parental consent,
- failed to provide proper information to its users in a concise, transparent and easily understood way, and
- processed special category data, without legal grounds to do so.
These allegations also form part of the case filed by Stichting Take Back Your Privacy (TBYP) against TikTok. TikTok also fails to protect Dutch children’s privacy when using the TikTok platform. TBYP is happy to see that these allegations will also be backed up by regulatory findings.
You can still join the action by TBYP, please register here.