TikTok fined £12.7 million ($16 million) for misusing UK children’s data

The United Kingdom privacy watchdog has fined Chinese TikTok £12.7 million ($16 million) for misusing children’s data and violating other protections for users’ personal information.

According to a statement from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), TikTok allowed up to 1.4 million UK children under 13 to use its platform in 2020, despite its own rules not allowing children that age to create an account.

UK data protection law dictates that organisations that use personal data when offering information society services to children under 13 must have consent from their parents or carers.

The privacy watchdog said that TikTok failed to do that, even though it ought to have been aware that under 13s were using its platform. It also stated that TikTok also failed to carry out adequate checks to identify and remove underage children from its platform.

“There are laws in place to make sure our children are as safe in the digital world as they are in the physical world. 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. 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.”

John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner

The statement also mentioned that the watchdog’s initial fine was set at £27 million. However, taking into consideration TikTok’s representations, the regulator decided not to pursue the provisional finding related to the unlawful use of special category data. That means this potential infringement was not included in the final amount of the fine set at £12.7 million.

Since the conclusion of the ICO’s investigation of TikTok, the regulator has published the Children’s code to help protect children in the digital world.

It is however expected that TikTok would appeal the ruling.

This scrutiny over TikTok’s impact on kids comes amid increasing unease from Western governments over the company’s ties to China. The U.S. lawmakers are considering forcing the owner, ByteDance to either sell the app or face ban to safeguard national security.