The Information Commissioner has fined the social media giant TikTok £12.7m for breaches of terms of service
More than one million UK children under 13 estimated by the ICO to be on TikTok in 2020, contrary to its terms of service.
The commissioner said that Personal data belonging to children under 13 was used without parental consent and that TikTok “did not do enough” to check who was using their platform and take sufficient action to remove the underage children that were.
The ICO investigation found that a concern was raised internally with some senior employees about children under 13 using the platform and not being removed. In the ICO’s view TikTok did not respond adequately.
John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner Said
“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 one 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. They did not do enough to check who was using their platform or take sufficient action to remove the underage children that were using their platform.”
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