USA, 3rd August 2024 (TDI): In a recent case, the US government has accused TikTok of gathering children’s data illegally and of not responding to requests from parents to remove their children’s accounts.
In violation of regulations requiring online businesses to get parental approval before collecting personal data about children under the age of 13, the Department of Justice claimed that the company’s actions amounted to a “massive-scale” violation of children’s privacy.
Authorities cited a case identical to this one from 2019 and declared the company and its parent ByteDance to be “repeat offenders.”
TikTok denied the allegations and declared itself “proud” of the measures it has taken to keep kids safe.
It claimed to have voluntarily implemented measures like default screen time limitations and extra privacy guards for children, as well as to have aggressively removed underage users.
A spokesman said, “We refute with these assertions, many of which are based on factually incorrect or addressed previous events and actions. We will keep updating and enhancing the platform since we take pride in our efforts to protect children.”
ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, and the US government were already at odds over a bill that threatened to ban the firm from the US. This complaint intensifies the pressure on both parties.
According to the complaint, TikTok was accused by the US of using “deficient” methods to check for child-created accounts and to thwart parent attempts to remove them.
According to the filing, out of 1,700 parent cancellation requests received between 2019 and 2020, 30% of the accounts were active as of November 2021.
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Moderators tasked with overseeing accounts reported as underage were only permitted to take action in the event that they witnessed an explicit admission of a child’s age, and their access to user videos was restricted.
Court orders to halt TikTok’s operations and establish fines for infractions were requested by officials.
Brian Boynton, principal deputy assistant attorney general and head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, stated that this action is required to stop the defendants, who are prolific offenders, from gathering and exploiting the personal data of young children without their permission or control of their parents.
With over 170 million users in the US and over 1 billion users worldwide, TikTok is one of the most widely used social networking sites.
Based on surveys conducted by Pew Research, over 60% of American teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 use the platform, with over half of them using it constantly.
The US government, according to the lawsuit, wants “to put an end” to TikTok’s allegedly “unlawful massive-scale invasions of children’s privacy.”
Due to similar flaws, the corporation has been fined in the UK as well as Europe.
