TikTok has been fined €345m (£296m) for breaching privacy laws over the processing of children’s personal data, an EU regulator has said.
The investigation by Ireland’s data protection commission found the Chinese-owned video app‘s default settings made teenagers’ accounts publicly viewable by default.
It also ruled it was too easy for children under 13 to sign up to the platform, even though they’re meant to be barred.
And the app’s “family pairing” feature, which allows adults to manage the settings of their child’s account, weren’t stringent enough and too easily ignored.
TikTok has hit back against the commission’s findings, which are based how the app operated in 2020.
It said it had already made changes by the time the investigation began in September 2021, including making all accounts owned by under-16s private by default.
Elaine Fox, TikTok’s head of privacy for Europe, said most of the criticisms “are no longer relevant”.
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