UK fines TikTok $15.9 million for using children’s data – 04/04/2023 – Market

The UK digital regulatory agency (ICO) fined the Chinese app TikTok on Tuesday (4) by 12.7 million pounds sterling (R$ 80.5 million), for the “illegal” use of personal data of children , according to a statement.

The ICO assesses that TikTok allowed up to 1.4 million British children under 13 to open an account on the platform in 2020, which violates its official rules. The agency also highlights the use of user data without the consent of those responsible.

The government agency’s investigation revealed that TikTok failed to carry out “adequate checks to identify and block the accounts of children” under the age of accessing the platform, despite some directors raising internal concerns about this, the statement details.

Quoted in the statement, UK Information Commissioner John Edwards commented that “in the UK there are laws to ensure our children are safe in the virtual environment and TikTok has not respected them”.

The White House, European Commission, Canadian, British and Australian governments have recently banned their employees from using TikTok on business smartphones.

The Norwegian Parliament and the Swedish army also adopted the measures.

Washington accuses TikTok – which is owned by the Chinese group ByteDance – of serving as a tool for Beijing to spy on and manipulate Americans.