The UK data protection authority has imposed a hefty fine of £12.7 million on TikTok for multiple breaches of data protection law, including using personal information from children aged 13 and under without obtaining parental consent.
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On Tuesday, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said TikTok had not paid sufficient attention to who was using app and failed to block underage children from its platform.
A staggering 1.4 million children in Britain under the age of 13 were using the platform in 2020 due to lax supervision, even though company policy explicitly forbade it, according to estimates from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). In the UK, there is no outright ban on minors accessing the internet, but companies that process personal data relating to children are expected to obtain permission from their guardians before doing so.
In a statement, the information commissioner, John Edwards, said: “There are laws in place to ensure our children are as safe in the digital world as they are in the physical world. TikTok did not comply with those laws.”
See also: Arkansas: Sues TikTok and Meta over child privacy and safety
After its investigation, the ICO discovered that the warnings were made to the TikTok team itself, but it failed to respond with effective solutions.
In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson said: “TikTok is a platform for users ages 13 and up. We invest heavily in keeping under-13s off the platform, and our 40,000-person safety team works around the clock to help keep the platform safe for our community.”
TikTok said it had changed practices following the ICO investigation. Like other social media sites, the platform uses more than just the age a user enters when trying to determine someone’s age. It also trains its moderators to recognize underage accounts and provides resources for parents who want to delete their minors’ accounts.
See also: France: Ban on TikTok and other apps on government devices
In just a few short years, TikTok has taken the world by storm. It has connected people from all corners of the globe through shared interests and created a platform for creativity and expression. With its unique algorithm, user-friendly interface, and creative capabilities, TikTok is here to stay. It is a powerful tool for marketers and influencers, a place for creative expression, and a place for millions of people to feel seen and heard.
