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TikTok Fined 12.7 Million Pounds in UK for Misuse of Children’s Data

The ICO felt that the platform had not taken enough steps to obtain parental consent, leaving children open to being served potentially harmful or inappropriate content. If you are affected by anything touched on within this article, follow the links to our various support services or click on the blue logo icon at the bottom right of the screen to start using Cybersmile Assistant, our smart AI support assistant.

The UK government has issued a 12.7 million pound fine to TikTok for illegally processing the personal data of users under the age of 13. The fine, one of the biggest ever issued by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), was imposed after the ICO found that TikTok had failed to protect the privacy of an estimated 1.4 million UK children.

Although TikTok maintain they are doing everything possible to deter under-age users, the ICO felt that the platform had not taken enough steps to obtain parental consent, leaving children open to being served potentially harmful or inappropriate content.

TikTok have 28 days to lodge an appeal against the scale of the fine, which has already been reduced from the amount suggested in the ‘notice of intent’ initially issued by the ICO last year, which stated the company could face a fine of 27 million pounds.

“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 1 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.”

John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner

In response to the decision, a TikTok spokesperson stated, “TikTok is a platform for users aged 13 and over. 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. While we disagree with the ICO’s decision, which relates to May 2018 – July 2020, we are pleased that the fine announced today has been reduced to under half the amount proposed last year. We will continue to review the decision and are considering next steps.”

TikTok emphasised that it has amended its policies and data processes since the period the ICO investigated. Currently, in line with other social media platforms, the site uses more indicators than a users’ self-declared age when trying to determine their age, including training its moderators to identify underage accounts and providing tools for parents to request the deletion of their underage children’s accounts.

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