On Friday, TikTok was fined €345 million ($370 million) by Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) for violating privacy laws related to the processing of children’s personal data in the European Union (EU). The Chinese-owned short-video platform, popular among teenagers worldwide, breached several EU privacy laws from July 31, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2020, according to the DPC. This is the first time TikTok has faced action from the DPC, which serves as the lead regulator for many major tech companies in the EU. TikTok, however, disagrees with the decision and the size of the fine, claiming to have implemented measures to address the concerns raised by the DPC in September 2021.
The breaches identified by the DPC included setting accounts for users under the age of 16 to “public” by default and failing to verify whether a user linking through the “family pairing” feature was a child’s parent or guardian. However, TikTok has since made changes to address these issues, such as implementing stricter parental controls and changing the default setting for registered users under 16 to “private.” TikTok plans to further update its privacy materials to provide clearer distinctions between public and private accounts and will preselect a private account for new users aged 16 to 17.
The DPC has given TikTok three months to rectify all the identified infringements. Additionally, the DPC is conducting a separate investigation into TikTok’s transfer of personal data to China and its compliance with EU data laws when transferring data outside the EU. In March, the DPC announced that it was preparing a preliminary draft decision regarding this investigation.
Under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) implemented in 2018, the lead regulator for a company can impose fines of up to 4% of its global revenue. The DPC has previously imposed significant fines on other tech giants, including a combined €2.5 billion on Meta. At the end of 2022, the DPC had 22 ongoing inquiries into multinational companies based in Ireland. The fine imposed on TikTok concludes a two-year investigation by the Irish watchdog and highlights its significant role in enforcing the EU’s strict GDPR.
In response to the fine, TikTok expressed disagreement with the verdict and stated that it was evaluating its options. The platform argues that many of the criticisms raised by the DPC are outdated and that it proactively monitors the age of its users, taking necessary actions when violations occur. TikTok claimed to have deleted nearly 17 million accounts worldwide suspected of belonging to individuals below the age of 13 in the first quarter of this year. Last week, the European Union announced stricter regulations for digital giants, including Apple, Meta (formerly known as Facebook), and ByteDance, to regulate their business practices.
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