TikTok fined US$15.8 million by UK privacy watchdog over misuse of children’s data
- ByteDance-owned app breached UK data rules by allowing children under 13 to use service, according to Information Commissioner’s Office
- TikTok previously fined US$5.7 million by Federal Trade Commission in US over misuse of children’s data
Chinese short video app TikTok has been fined £12.7 million (US$15.8 million) by Britain’s privacy watchdog for misusing children’s data over a two-year period.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the app, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, breached UK data protection rules by allowing children under the age of 13 to sign up for the service between May 2018 and July 2020 despite claiming doing so was in violation of its terms of service.
The app also processed children’s data without the consent of their parents or guardians and failed to root out accounts held by underage users, the ICO said.
The regulator estimated as many as 1.4 million children in Britain used the platform in 2020. UK rules requires apps to seek parental consent for underage children to sign up.
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