Every child who has used the app since May 2018,regardless of their account status or privacy settings,may have had their personal information collected for the benefit of unknown third parties,according to the suit filed by Anne Longfield,England’s former Children’s Commissioner.
The case follows increased scrutiny of the app by several EU data watchdogs. Last year,EU data-protection regulators pledged to coordinate potential investigations into the Chinese company,establishing a taskforce to get a better understanding of “TikTok’s processing and practices”.
In the US,Bytedance was fined $US5.7 million ($7.3 million) in 2019 by the Federal Trade Commission to settle allegations that Musical.ly,which ByteDance bought and renamed TikTok,illegally collected information from minors. It was the largest FTC penalty in a children’s privacy case.
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The company is also seeking permission to settle a privacy suit in the US.
TikTok said that the claims in the London case “lacked merit” and the company would vigorously defend the action.
“Privacy and safety are top priorities for TikTok,” the company said in a statement. “We have robust policies,processes and technologies in place to help protect all users,and our teenage users in particular.”