TikTok, the popular app from ByteDance , will face broader scrutiny over its privacy policies after EU regulators decided to conduct and coordinate investigations into data protection. The announcement, made public on Wednesday by EU regulators, follows a decision last month by the Dutch data protection commission to launch an investigation into the company’s policies on protecting children’s data, saying the app is “clearly loved” by children in the Netherlands. Beijing-based ByteDance has faced a raft of questions from U.S. policymakers about whether it poses a national security risk .
The EU has some of the strictest data protection laws in the world. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)gives EU authorities the power to fine companies up to 4% of their global annual sales if they are found to be committing the most serious breaches. EU regulators have raised concerns about some developments in facial recognition technologies, responding to questions about Clearview AI’s use of such technologies by police forces. Clearview AI is a startup that has scraped billions of photos from social mediato help law enforcement find suspects who do not have criminal records.
TikTok said that the company's priority is to protect the privacy and security of its users and that it will happily cooperate with EU regulators.
Clearview AI said its image search technology is not currently available in the EU, but the company is processing requests from EU residents. The company also searches the public internet like any other search engine, its CEO, Hoan Ton-That, noted in a statement.
EU regulators have said they have doubts about whether there is a legal basis for using a service like Clearview AI, adding that the legality of its use by EU law enforcement cannot be ascertained. The use of a service like Clearview AI by EU law enforcement is likely to be incompatible with the EU’s data protection regime.
