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TikTok Hit With Huge $368 Million Fine For Not Protecting Teens

Europe’s strict data privacy rules have led to TikTok being hit with a $368 million fine due to the social media platform for inadequately protecting children’s privacy, according to Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC).

The DPC has been leading the charge against Big Tech firms with headquarters based in Dublin, and it handed down the fine, it said, because of infringements that began in 2020.

The regulator found that children’s accounts, especially those under 13, were being set to public by default, which put them at risk. There was no filter for children’s accounts; anyone could view and comment on their videos.

The DPS found that TikTok, which has a minimum user age of 13, did not appropriately consider the risk to minors who gained access to the platform and that the “family pairing” feature was not secure enough.

Despite it being created for parents to oversee settings, there was a way to still turn on direct messaging for users aged 16 and 17 without their permission.

According to the DPS, TikTok also pushed teen users to optimise their user experience with more “privacy intrusive” options when posting content and even when signing up.

TikTok argues the decision is too severe, “particularly the level of the fine imposed,” they said in a statement.

The fine also is based on features and settings from three years, which TikTok said changes have since been made, such as making all accounts for teens under 16 private by default and deactivating direct messaging for 13-15-year-olds.

“Most of the decision’s criticisms are no longer relevant as a result of measures we introduced at the start of 2021 — several months before the investigation began,” TikTok’s head of privacy for Europe, Elaine Fox said.

This is not the first time criticism has been voiced regarding the Irish regulator working at a snail’s pace, but the chair of the European Data Protection Board, Anu Talus, said that social media companies must be held accountable regardless, especially when it comes to children and their privacy.

“Social media companies have a responsibility to avoid presenting choices to users, especially children, in an unfair manner — particularly if that presentation can nudge people into making decisions that violate their privacy interests,” said Anu Talus, chair of the European Data Protection Board.

Added to privacy concerns related to minors, TikTok has come under fire over privacy for all users when it transmitted users’ personal information to China, where its owner, ByteDance, is located.

TikTok was already slapped with a 12.7 million pounds ($15.7 million) fine by British regulators, and other tech leaders like Instagram, WhatsApp, and their owner Meta have also been given substantial penalties by the DPS only this year.



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