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| Ireland investigates TikTok's handling of children's data |
TikTok is facing two data protection investigations in the European Union, one related to the processing of children's personal data and the other related to the transfer of data to China.
The Irish Data Protection Agency , the main European regulator of TikTok, has launched two investigations to determine whether this popular short video app is in violation of strict EU data protection regulations.
The first survey focuses on how the platform handles children's data and whether it complies with the European General Data Protection Regulation.
The Irish Data Protection Agency also announced that it will look into transfers of personal data for the platform to China, where parent company ByteDance is located. The goal is to check whether they meet the requirements of the regulations on the transfer of personal data to third countries.
“The privacy and security of our community, especially our younger members, are of top priority,” the platform stated. We have comprehensive policies and controls in place to protect user data and rely on approved methods for transferring data outside of Europe. We intend to cooperate fully with the authorities.
The Irish regulator's statement was published in response to pressure from other EU data protection authorities and consumer groups who have expressed concerns about how the platform handles public user data, particularly information about children.
After the data protection authority took immediate action against child safety measures in January of this year, Italian authorities ordered the platform to re-verify the age of every user in the country.
The platform complied with the regulations, deleting more than 500,000 accounts that it could not confirm that the users were not children.
Tik Tok transfers data to China
European consumer groups have also raised concerns about the safety and privacy of children on the platform this year. EU lawmakers announced in May that they were reviewing the company's terms of use.
Regarding children's data, the General Data Protection Regulation restricts the processing of children's data, which sets an age limit on children's ability to consent to the use of their data.
Each EU member state has different age restrictions. However, a child's ability to reach agreement is limited at age 13.
Responding to the commission's report on the investigation. TikTok has discovered that it uses aging techniques and other strategies. It said it was used to identify underage users and remove them from its platform.
I've also noticed recent changes to children's accounts and records. It's like changing the default settings to make the account private by default. and restrict their access to certain features designed to encourage interaction with other users (if such users are over 16 years old).