TikTok, the popular social media platform, is facing a hefty €345 million fine from Irish regulators over serious lapses in its child privacy protocols. In a statement, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) revealed that TikTok mishandled children’s data in 2020, notably in age verification and privacy settings.
The fine, one of the largest levied against TikTok by any regulator, was imposed under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DPC criticized TikTok for lacking transparency in informing children about its privacy settings and data processing procedures.
TikTok has expressed disagreement with the decision, especially the fine’s magnitude. The company pointed out that the concerns raised pertain to features and settings from three years ago, which have since been modified.
In response to the incident, TikTok has made changes such as setting accounts for children up to age 15 to private by default, a measure soon to be extended to 16 and 17-year-olds.
Meanwhile, European regulators are also probing whether TikTok, owned by Chinese company Bytedance, unlawfully transferred data from the EU to China.
This development underscores the escalating fines imposed on companies for data misuse as global regulators intensify efforts to crack down on unauthorized data use or dubious practices.
Earlier this year, TikTok was fined £12.7 million in the UK for permitting children under 13 to use the platform in 2020. In May, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, received a colossal €1.2 billion fine for transferring data from Europe to the United States.