The Irish data protection authorities have imposed a €345 million fine on TikTok after conducting an investigation into the handling of user data from minors.
On Friday, September 15 2023, the agency disclosed that its investigation spanning from the conclusion of July 2020 to the end of December 2020, centered on specific settings within the video app and the age verification process during registration.
Under a default setting, content including videos created by users aged 13 to 17 could be publicly visible to all users.
TikTok said the investigation mainly talked about things they did three years ago.
“Most of those results are no longer relevant due to measures we put in place before the investigation began.
“These included setting all accounts for users under the age of 16 to private by default,” he said.
TikTok received an order to align its data with the european general data protection regulation, GDPR, within a three month timeframe.
In May, the data protection commission of Ireland imposed a historic fine of $1.2 billion on Meta.
TikTok is currently moving European user data to new data centers in Ireland and Norway. By the end of 2024, this data will be automatically transferred and stored there as the default option.
TikTok is actively working to build trust in Europe through its initiative known as Project Clover. The video app faces complex political challenges in Western regions due to its ownership by the Chinese corporation, Bytedance.
The European commission, along with various european governments, has prohibited the use of the app on the mobile phones of their employees.
Through Project Clover, TikTok aims to ensure strict regulation and transparency in accessing the personal data of European users.
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