Ireland’s data watchdog has taken issue with how TikTok handled children’s data in the second half of 2020. According to a report from the Guardian, the company has been fined $367 million for violating European Union law. The Irish Data Protection Committee found that TikTok automatically set the accounts of users aged 13 to 17 to public, allowing anyone to view or comment on them. Additionally, TikTok failed to adequately address the risks of children under 13 using the platform. This development has caused concern among Irish authorities.
The Irish Examiner reports that the regulator also identified issues with TikTok’s “Family Pairing” feature, which could be exploited since it did not verify the relationship between the child’s account and the adult it was paired with. Data protection commissioner Helen Dixon stated that the fine reflects the lack of protection for child users, who were exposed to risks due to TikTok’s decision to set their accounts to public by default. Politico reported on this matter, stating that the fine emphasizes TikTok’s violation of children’s privacy.
In response to the fine, TikTok expressed disagreement and claimed that the criticisms were focused on features and settings that were in place three years ago, and that changes had already been made before the investigation began. This is not the first time TikTok has faced consequences for mishandling children’s data, as British regulators fined the company nearly $16 million in April for processing the data of 1.4 million under-13s without parental consent. The Guardian covered this previous incident as well.
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