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TIKTOK HAS BEEN fined €345 million by Ireland’s data watchdog following an investigation into how the social media platform processed children’s data.
The fine was imposed on TikTok Technology Limited (TTL) by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) after the probe into how certain privacy settings and features complied with obligations under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
The DPC inquiry examined age verification as part of the registration process and the processing of the personal data of children by the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform between 31 July and 31 December 2020.
Tiktok said that it “respectfully disagreed” with the level of the fine imposed and stated that it related to features and settings which were in place three years ago.
The DPC adopted its final decision regarding its inquiry into TTK on 1 September.
The DPC ruling described how child users progressed through the sign-up to the TikTok platform in such a manner that their accounts were set to public by default.
It said this meant that videos that were posted to child users’ account were public-by-default and comments were enabled publicly by default.
In the Family Pairing feature, the DPC said a child user’s accounts could be “paired” with an unverified non-child.
It said that that the non-child user had the power to enable direct messages for child users above the age of 16, thereby making this feature less strict for the child user.
As part of the inquiry, the DPC also examined some of TTL’s transparency obligations, including the extent of information provided to child users in relation to default settings.
The DPC has issued a reprimand as well as an order requiring TTL to bring its processing into compliance by taking specified action specified within three months and administrative fines totalling 345 million euro.
A spokesperson for TikTok said: “We respectfully disagree with the decision, particularly the level of the fine imposed.
“The DPC’s criticisms are focused on features and settings that were in place three years ago, and that we made changes to well before the investigation even began, such as setting all under 16 accounts to private by default.”
It is the latest in a series of fines handed out by the DPC in Ireland to social media giants.
Earlier this year, Facebook’s parent company Meta Ireland was fined €390 million for breaches of EU data privacy rules, one of a number of fines the DPC has imposed on the company.
In January, WhatsApp was fined more than €5 million over data protection breaches and last year, Instagram was fined €405 million over the way in which it handled teenagers’ personal data.
Earlier this year in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office fined TikTok £12.7 million because it “did not do enough” to make sure underage children were not using its platform and ensure that their data was used correctly.
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If it’s child protection ,fines can’t be high enough. The levels of vulnerability online are pretty stark .
What’s going to happen with the money increase wage for some overpaid government employees
@Gavin Kelly: That’s genuinely a great question. I see all these fines aimed at tech companies but have no idea if they ever get paid or who actually receives the money. Shouldn’t we as the public know where it goes?
@Wicked Hedgehog: This is a case of saying one thing, that these massive fines and the new digital services legislation are about protecting data in general and child protection in particular and doing another, using them to wield unbridled authoritarian control over the publication of information, media, or opposing opinions that run contrary to the preferred narrative of every issue.
In other words, if these digital platforms and entities don’t apply the censorship that is demanded by the EU to shadow ban users, censor the publication of information, based on what is deemed acceptable, rather than on what is the truth, then they will be fined and or blocked entirely.
but we are told this is not authoritarian censorship to silence dissent, its for the children..
Have an6of these mega fines ever been collected
@Jp Cleary: Not only that but you would also wonder what arrangements are in place to pay it and who gets the money. Is it the E.U or Ireland and if it is Ireland, what Dept gets it and does it show up in Govt accounts? Given the debacle with the E13 billion and the preferential tax system, is this treated as part of their tax payment or do the fines pay for their Data Centres?
Can you post a link to the claims form as I’m due some of that
The data centres being built in Ireland and destroying our electricity grid are for these criminal tech companies. It is a farce and modern day brown envelope shenanigans to allow them to get away with this.
@Lewis Armstrong: then stop consuming vast amounts of data and then the need for DCs will be reduced……
@Lewis Armstrong: Put your phone down, then, and encourage others to do the same.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Maybe the Journal should become a letters page. A random village green meeting place is chosen as a rendezvous each week,where all letters are opened and read out in public to be greeted with chants of “hear,hear!” or “down with this sort of thing!”
Bejasus! Sure make it 350m and Revolute me the extra 5
@Aiden Durkin: Send me your banking details and I’ll pass it on to the relevant authorities
It’s not often you get to comment on a story on the Journal anymore. Who was the plonker who decided the leader of a criminal gang that preyed on the elderly was entitled to a day out? Jail should mean jail. Seeing as he showed no compassion for the elderly, I wouldn’t think he cared a lot for the dead either ffs.
@Playmisty4me: It was an Irish funeral party. Some of these things can last for days. Besides,he wasn’t the only one that was late that day.
And the fine will be paid by way of chinese disposable vapes
That’d build a few houses.
Dance to that one
If Tik Tok appeals, the DPC should give them a bit of their own medicine and send them a notification saying, ‘Appeal Not Approved’!
That’ll teach ‘em.
Lol.
Can someone tell me what happens if tiktok refuses to pay and also where does the money go if they pay the fine????.
Where does the money go to, if its ever paid? The Exchequer? DPC bonuses?
Test.
That Chinese government-backed TikTok money is coming in 3-2-1…
Have any of these companies actually paid any fines, and if so who gets t money, or will they appeal and end up paying nothing
Who is going to benefit monetarily from these fines
As a national figurehead,it’s been rumoured that Bono will oversee the handover of the fine before the deadline is reached,to prevent further penalties. “What is the latest time we can put this off to,Mr.Bono?” “Eleven o’clock,TikTok”
Good
In the words of jack burton , “the cheque is in the post”
have your say