TikTok fined nearly £13m for accessing data of 1.4 million children without parents’ consent

TikTok has been fined £12.7m for using children’s personal data without parental consent, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has announced.

The ICO said the social media giant allowed up to 1.4 million children under the age of 13 to use the app in 2020, breaching its own rules, and used their personal data without gaining consent from parents or guardians. 

John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner said: “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.”

Platforms which allow children under the age of 13 to use their services must have consent from parents or guardians before gathering personal data, according to UK data protection law. “TikTok did not abide by those laws,” Edwards added.

The ICO added that TikTok “did not respond adequately” when concerns were raised about underage users.

Last September the ICO handed TikTok a ‘notice of intent’ over the alleged breaches, at the time TikTok was facing a possible £27m fine over the claims that it may have broken UK data protection law and failed to protect children’s privacy.

A TikTok spokesperson told City A.M. :”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.

“While we disagree with the ICO’s decision, which relates to May 2018 – July 2020, we are pleased that the fine announced today has been reduced to under half the amount proposed last year.”