TikTok Slapped With A Hefty $368 Million Fine. Here's Why

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which oversees TikTok’s activities in the European Union has ordered the video hosting platform to pay a $368 million fine.

This decision comes following the determination that the app did not sufficiently safeguard children data.

According to a DPC investigation, in the latter half of 2020, newly created children's profiles were set to public by default, allowing anyone on the internet to browse them.

The body also noted that TikTok failed to adequately communicate these privacy dangers to children and also utilised so-called "dark patterns" to persuade users to give up more of their personal information.

In another violation, DPC noted that a TikTok parental control function known as Family Pairing did not require an adult supervising a child's account to be authenticated as the child's actual parent or guardian.

Disagreeing with several aspects of the ruling, TikTok clarified in a blog post, “Most of the decision’s criticisms are no longer relevant as a result of measures we introduced at the start of 2021.”

Earlier this year, TikTok was also fined in the United Kingdom for a number of breaches of data protection law, including misusing children’s personal data.

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