European Union fines TikTok €345m over child data

European Union regulator has fined a Chinese-owned social media platform, TikTok 345 million euros for violenting children’s privacy.

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said in a statement on Friday that it has handed down the “administrative fine”, which is equivalent to $369 million, over the breaches it uncovered in a two-year inquiry.

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) said TikTok failed to protect children’s personal information by making their accounts publicly accessible by default and insufficiently tackled risks that under-13 users could access its platform.

Helen Dixon, the Irish data protection commissioner, said, “Alone the fine of [€345 million] is a headline sanction to impose but reflects the extent to which the DPC identified child users were exposed to risk in particular arising from TikTok’s decision at the time to default child user accounts to public settings on registration.”

The watchdog, which plays a central role in enforcing EU data rules, gave TikTok three months to make the appropriate changes.

However, in response to the fine, TikTok spokesperson told AFP that it “respectfully disagrees” with the verdict and was “evaluating” how to proceed.

“The DPC’s 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.”
The Chinese-owned platform insists that it closely monitors the age of its users and takes action when needed, adding that it has deleted almost 17 million accounts worldwide in the first three month of this year due to suspicions that they belonged to people under 13 years old.”
Chinyere Treasure Mbadiwe
Chinyere Treasure Mbadiwehttp://wakadaily.com
Chinyere Treasure Mbadiwe is the Co-founder and CEO of Wakadaily News. With a B.Sc. in Business Administration from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), she brings a wealth of leadership and strategic expertise to the platform. Chinyere is passionate about delivering high-quality, engaging news that informs and empowers audiences. Her vision for Wakadaily is to create a space where reliable, diverse, and impactful content connects people and fosters informed conversations.

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