TikTok fined £20m for improper use of UK children's data

TikTok, a short-form video app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, was fined this Tuesday by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data regulator, about R$80 million ($15.9 million) for violating data protection law, including using personal information. From children under 13 years of age without parental consent.

The regulator said the data breaches occurred between May 2018 and July 2020, and the video app did not take enough steps to verify who was using the platform and remove minors who were using the platform.

The ICO calculates that TikTok has allowed up to 1.4 million underage British children to use its platform by 2020, even though it sets 13 as the minimum age for a person to create an account on the app.

A TikTok spokesperson told Reuters that the company does not agree with the regulator’s decision and will consider the next steps to take. However, he celebrated the reduction of the R$174.5 million fine that was passed last year.

The spokesperson added that the company has invested heavily to help keep children under the age of 13 off the platform, adding:

“Our security team of 40,000 people works around the clock to help keep the platform safe for our community.”

In Australia, the app has been banned from government agencies

Australia announced on Tuesday that it would block the TikTok app on government devices due to security concerns, joining other countries that have taken the measure.

In announcing the order, Australian Attorney General Mark Dreyfuss said he was acting at the direction of intelligence and security agencies. The ban will take effect as soon as possible.

Exceptions could be allowed on a case-by-case basis, Dreyfuss added, with some security measures in place.

Countries that have taken action against TikTok in recent months include Australia’s main intelligence allies — the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand — as well as European countries such as France and the Netherlands. Many of them cited TikTok’s ability to collect data from devices.

In response, China has made “solemn representations” to Australia, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters at a press conference in Beijing.

Mao Ming said: “Digital security issues should not be used as a tool to expand the concept of national security and abuse state power to suppress foreign companies.”