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Brazil fines TikTok $30m for child data privacy violations
Confirmed
But the department noted that since it sued the platform, TikTok has "undergone significant changes," including to its ownership, privacy practices and platform controls for young users.
As part of the agreement, the predecessor to ByteDance, Musical.ly, was required to pay a $5.7m fine for COPPA violations and ensure it sought parental consent for any user aged under 13. When the lawsuit was filed, attorneys for the US said there were more than 170 million teenagers using TikTok and that the app was "directed to children. The regulator estimated that TikTok may have processed the data of at least 8 million children, highlighting what they said were systemic deficiencies within the platform’s age-verification mechanism. The regulatory body said in its ruling that TikTok had breached data privacy laws across both logged-in accounts and guest browsing sessions by collecting and processing young users’ personal information without a valid legal basis or adequate safeguards. Earlier this month, the regulator ordered the social media platform Discord to suspend its livestreaming feature across the country, accusing the platform of failing to protect children and teenagers.
Owner ByteDance ordered to erase illegally obtained child data in Brazil as crackdown on tech giants intensifies. "Children and parents are better protected today than they were when this case began," assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said.
What's confirmed
- But the department noted that since it sued the platform, TikTok has "undergone significant changes," including to its ownership, privacy practices and platform controls for young users.
- As part of the agreement, the predecessor to ByteDance, Musical.ly, was required to pay a $5.7m fine for COPPA violations and ensure it sought parental consent for any user aged under 13.
- Owner ByteDance ordered to erase illegally obtained child data in Brazil as crackdown on tech giants intensifies.
What's still developing
- Further details were still being reported.