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| Tik Tok pays $ 92 million for data collection |
TikTok has agreed to pay $ 92 million to resolve dozens of legal disputes, many of which are small lawsuits in which personal information is collected and sold to advertisers without permission.
The proposed deal will be the largest privacy push ever and will include 89 million US users, some of them as young as 6 years old.
TikTok has collected a lot of information from account holders without consent, including biometric data such as race, gender, age and even information from video projects that have not been publicly shared on the platform.
TikTok initially faced 21 federal class lawsuits that were later incorporated into a multi-county class action lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois.
The lawsuit alleges that the company violated federal laws, including the Computer Fraud and Misuse Act, the Video Privacy Act, and data protection laws in Illinois and California.
TikTok said it disagreed with the allegations but decided to resolve the case to avoid prolonging litigation and focus its energy on creating a safe and enjoyable experience for its community.
The settlement, which is awaiting court approval, also directs TikTok to stop tracking and storing biometric information, including facial features, as well as collecting GPS or clipboard data.
He also promised to cut data from US users abroad and stop collecting data from video projects.
"This is one of the biggest compromises in the history of consumer law," said one of the lawyers involved in the lawsuit.
It's also one of the biggest privacy class-action lawsuits, he added. Reminds companies of the importance of confidentiality and blames it for violating consumer rights.
TikTok conducted numerous safety investigations and consumer rights complaints across Europe and was fined $ 5.7 million by the Federal Trade Commission for violating children's privacy rights.