On Tuesday, TikTok was handed a multimillion-dollar fine by the privacy watchdog in Britain for a slew of data protection breaches, including the misuse of children's data.The short-video sharing app, which is extremely popular with young people, was fined 12.7 million pounds, or $15.9 million, by the Information Commissioner's Office.It is the latest instance of TikTok and its parent company, Chinese technology company ByteDance, coming under increased scrutiny in the West, where governments are becoming increasingly concerned about the threats the app poses to cybersecurity and data privacy.
Despite the fact that the platform's own rules prohibit children as young as 13 from creating accounts, the British watchdog stated that TikTok allowed as many as 1.4 million children in the United Kingdom under 13 to use the app in 2020.The watchdog asserted that TikTok did not adequately identify and remove children under 13 from the platform. The agency also stated that TikTok failed to obtain parental consent for the processing of their data, as required by British data protection laws, despite knowing that younger children were using its platform.
TikTok ought to have realized better. In a press release, Information Commissioner John Edwards stated that TikTok should have performed better. The fine "reflects the serious consequences of their failures." They didn't do enough to find out who was using their platform or do enough to get rid of children under the age of 13 who were using it.Technology Biden to meet with experts on AI "risks and opportunities" Virgin Orbit seeks bankruptcy protection after mission failure Australia bans TikTok from federal government devices The company stated that it disagreed with the watchdog's decision. China seethes as US chip controls threaten tech ambitions.TikTok stated in a statement, "We invest heavily to help keep under 13s off the platform, and our 40,000-strong safety team works around the clock to help keep the platform safe for our community." We are considering our next steps and will continue to evaluate the decision.
