Irish data regulator says platform put 13- to 17-year-old users’ accounts on default public setting, among other breaches. Photo:Radio Nigeria archive
Irish regulators have fined TikTok €345m (£296m) for violating children’s privacy.
The complaint concerned how the social media app handled children’s data in 2020, particularly around age verification and privacy settings.
According to BBC, It is the biggest fine to date TikTok has received from regulators.
A spokesperson for the social media firm said it “respectfully disagree[s] with the decision, particularly the level of the fine imposed”.
“The criticisms are focused on features and settings that were in place three years ago, and that we made changes to well before the investigation even began, such as setting all under 16 accounts to private by default,” they said.
The fine was issued by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) privacy law.
GDPR sets out rules that companies must follow when handling data.
The DPC found that TikTok had not been transparent enough with children about its privacy settings, and raised questions about how their data was processed.
Writing by Abdullahi Lamino