LONDON (CelebrityAccess) — The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office slapped short form video sharing platform TikTok with a £12.7 million fine for several violations of data protection laws, including the misuse of data collected from underaged users.
According to the ICO, their estimates show that as many as 1.4 million UK children under 13 to use its platform in 2020, despite its own rules not allowing children that age to create an account.
The UK’s data protection law states that companies offering information society services must obtain parental permission when using data obtained from children under the age of 13.
The ICO’s investigation found that TikTok failed to obtain parental approval from users underaged users on the platform and failed to adequately implement a system to remove underaged users when they were identified on the platform.
Additionally, when concerns were raised within the company, the ICO alleges that TikTok and its subsidiary, TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited, failed to adequately address those concerns, the ICO said.
“There are laws in place to make sure our children are as safe in the digital world as they are in the physical world. TikTok did not abide by those laws.
“As a consequence, an estimated one million under 13s were inappropriately granted access to the platform, with TikTok collecting and using their personal data. That means that their data may have been used to track them and profile them, potentially delivering harmful, inappropriate content at their very next scroll.
“TikTok should have known better. TikTok should have done better. Our £12.7m fine reflects the serious impact their failures may have had. They did not do enough to check who was using their platform or take sufficient action to remove the underage children that were using their platform.”
The fine, which was originally set at £27 million, was lowered after regulators opted not to pursue a provisional finding related to the unlawful use of special category data.
A spokesperson for TikTok told Reuters that the company disagrees with the findings and are considering their next steps.
“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,” the spokesperson told Reuters.
