TikTok fined $15.9M by UK watchdog over misuse of kids' data
Britain’s privacy watchdog has hit TikTok with a multimillion-dollar penalty for misusing children’s data and violating other protections for users’ personal information
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s privacy watchdog hit TikTok with a multimillion-dollar penalty Tuesday for misusing children's data and violating other protections for young users' personal information.
The Information Commissioner's Office said it issued a fine of 12.7 million pounds ($15.9 million) to the short-video sharing app, which is wildly popular with young people.
It's the latest example of tighter scrutiny that TikTok and its parent, Chinese technology company ByteDance, are facing in the West, where governments are increasingly concerned about risks that the app poses to data privacy and cybersecurity.
The British watchdog, which was investigating data breaches between May 2018 and July 2020, said TikTok allowed as many as 1.4 million children in the U.K. under 13 to use the app in 2020, despite the platform's own rules prohibiting children that young from setting up accounts.
