An investigation has suggested that punishment of $28.91 million be levied against TikTok in the UK for the company’s alleged failure to safeguard the privacy of young users.
TikTok may have collected and used user data from minors under the age of 13 without permission and without providing enough context.
The Information Commissioner’s Office sent a “notice of intent” to TikTok and TikTok Information Technologies UK Ltd.
According to Information Commissioner John Edwards, TikTok “failed to fulfill that condition.”
A representative for TikTok told Reuters that the company disagrees with the ICO’s first assessment and that a formal response will be forthcoming.
According to the ICO, TikTok broke UK data protection laws between May 2018 and July 2020.
The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee voted in July to prohibit unlicensed targeted advertising to minors on TikTok and Snapchat (SNAP.N) and to raise the age at which children obtain internet privacy protections to 16.