Irish regulators fined TikTok €345 million (£296 million) for violating children’s privacy.
In particular, age verification and privacy settings were mentioned in relation to how the social media app handled children’s data in 2020.
The fine is the largest one that TikTok has ever faced from authorities.
A social media company “respectfully disagree[s] with the decision, particularly the level of the fine imposed,” according to a spokeswoman.
The complaints, according to the company, “are centred on features and settings that were in place three years ago and that we changed well before the investigation even started, such as setting all under-16 accounts to private by default.”
In accordance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) imposed the penalties.
Companies must abide by the requirements outlined by GDPR when processing customer data.
According to the DPC, TikTok had not been clear enough with kids about its privacy settings, and there were concerns expressed about how their data was used.
According to the Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon, who spoke to newsmen, the investigation also found that accounts created by users between the ages of 13 and 17 were by default made public upon registration, making the content they uploaded accessible to everyone.
Because of the way TikTok designed the platform, Ms. Dixon stated, “that is specifically at their fault because it violated the data protection by design and by default requirements of the GDPR.”
The company has three months to fully comply with GDPR in all aspects of data processing.
Prof. Sonia Livingstone, a researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science who examines children’s digital rights and experiences, applauded the DPC’s choice.
“Children want to engage in the digital world without falling victim to manipulation or exploitation. Because privacy is a child’s right, platforms must, she continued, “explain how their data is handled and, more importantly, handle their data fairly.
The question of whether TikTok smuggled data from the EU to China is still being investigated. ByteDance, a company based in Beijing, owns TikTok.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
