TIKTOK has been hit with a £12.7million fine for mishandling data – including that of more than a million children.
The popular video sharing app “did not do enough” to check whether underage kids were using the platform.
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More than one million UK children under the age of 13 were estimated to be on TikTok in 2020 contrary to the site’s terms of service, according to the data watchdog ICO.
They claim it was used without parental consent.
Under tough UK data protection laws, tech giants must have permission from parents for such data.
“There are laws in place to make sure our children are as safe in the digital world as they are in the physical world,” said John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner.
“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.”
The Chinese-owned app also failed to do “adequate checks” to find and remove underage users, the regulator said.
An investigation found that concerns had been raised internally with some senior staff at TikTok but these weren’t addressed enough.
The fine is one of the ICO’s biggest, but it’s under half the £27million they threatened to hit the firm with last year.
TikTok said it disagreed with the decision and is considering “next steps”.
A rep said: “TikTok is a platform for users aged 13 and over.
“We invest heavily to help keep under 13s off the platform and our 40,000 strong safety team works around the clock to help keep the platform safe for our community.”
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