The Irish Data Protection Authority has imposed a heavy fine on TikTok for its negligent handling of minors’ data.

An unpleasant start to the weekend for TikTok and parent company Bytedance. The Irish Data Protection Authority has decided to fine the Chinese company behind the popular social media app 345 million for failing to adequately protect minors’ data. Ireland was given the authority by Europe to impose this penalty because, like many major tech companies, TikTok’s European office is in Dublin.

Think about the children

When it comes to children, the authorities are always on guard. DPC has ruled that TikTok has three key gaps in its privacy policy. Basically, these are general violations of GDPR law, but since minors make up a large part of TikTok’s target group, the authority takes this particularly seriously.

First, concerns are raised about TikTok’s family pairing feature. This allows an adult’s account to be linked to that of a minor user. However, the adult concerned does not have to prove that he or she is related to the minor and the “parental account” can also activate the chat functions.

A second sin of TikTok is that underage accounts are publicly visible by default, allowing strangers to spy on the profile. The reason for this is that the platform should not expect minors to delve into the privacy settings to make their account private. TikTok was supposed to do this by default and is now doing so for users under the age of fifteen.

The age of the users is the final point of discussion. TikTok officially sets the minimum age at thirteen, but authorities believe the platform can do more to prevent younger users from creating an account by lying about their age. This is more about an ethical discussion, because strictly according to the wording of the law, there is no violation of the GDPR.

The sum now leads to a hefty fine for TikTok. The company now has three months to make the necessary improvements.

Banned or not?

This is far from the first time that TikTok has been criticized for its handling of data from minors. Such problems are not good for the platform’s already impeccable reputation. Due to concerns about the security of the platform, the European Commission and, shortly afterwards, the Belgian government decided to ban the app for its employees. We discuss in detail whether your company should get involved in this article.