TikTok was fined £12.7M ($15.9M) by the U.K.'s privacy regulator over allegedly misusing children’s personal data and other violations.
The country's Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) estimates that
TikTok permitted up to 1.4 million U.K. children under 13 to use the app
in 2020, despite having rules barring children that age from creating
accounts.
- According to the ICO, TikTok
failed to gain consent from parents to process the data of younger
children, which is a requirement under local data protection laws.
- The agency accused TikTok of failing to do more to remove the accounts of underage children from its platform.
- The fine covers violations that occurred from May 2018 to July 2020.
- “TikTok should have known better," U.K. Information Commissioner John Edwards said. "TikTok should have done better.”
- TikTok said it disagreed with the fine, adding that it invests "heavily" to prevent children under 13 from using its platform.
