Following investigations by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the FTC and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, on August 2, 2024. According to the FTC and the DOJ, TikTok knowingly failed to adequately protect children’s privacy and violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). TikTok allowed children under the age of 13 to create TikTok accounts without the required parental consent. TikTok also collected extensive information about these young children. Moreover, in violation of TikTok’s own policies and COPPA, these children’s accounts were not deleted. TikTok denies all allegations.
This is not the first time TikTok has violated COPPA. Previously, the FTC also extensively investigated TikTok for which ByteDance reached a $5.7 million settlement in 2019.
The lawsuit of the Take Back Your Privacy Foundation (TBYP) also concerns privacy violations and the insufficient protection TikTok provides to children. Therefore, TBYP believes it is a positive development that TikTok’s conduct is being investigated thoroughly in the US and that TikTok must answer for it. That TikTok denies all allegations is not new and confirms that enforcement must continue as long as TikTok continues to violate the privacy of children.
Read more:
US sues TikTok for violating children’s privacy rules
FTC Investigation Leads to Lawsuit Against TikTok and ByteDance for Flagrantly Violating Children’s Privacy Law