TikTok, which hosts millions of users around the world, continues to come to the fore with the news of bans and data breaches. In this context, the platform, which was recently banned by the Australian government, has now been fined £12.7m for violating UK data protection law.TikTok’s record penalty
In the investigation conducted by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), TikTok is accused of using personal data of children under the age of 13 without parental consent and not taking the necessary action to remove this age group. However, the ICO found that TikTok violated the UK General Data Protection Regulation on the grounds that personal data belonging to British users was not processed in a legal, fair and transparent manner during the period covering May 2018 and July 2020.
“There are laws in place to ensure that our children are safe in the digital world as well as in the physical world. TikTok did not comply with these laws,” said John Edwards, one of the commissioners on the subject.
However, TikTok disagrees with the commission’s decision. In a statement to the BBC, a TikTok spokesperson said that the platform has made a big investment in stopping access to the site for under 13s. TikTok will reportedly have 28 days to appeal. If successful, the ICO can reduce the size of the final penalty. It should also be noted that this fine of £ 12.7 million is one of the largest fines imposed by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.
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