TikTok has been sued by Anne Longfield – a former Children’s Commissioner for England – for their illegal use of children’s data. The case will be representing children across the UK and EU region who have used the platform since 25 May 2018.
Today I’m launching a legal claim against @tiktok_uk on behalf of millions of children whose data was illegally taken and transferred to unknown third parties for profit. Learn more about our fight to protect children's privacy @TikTokClaimUK for updates https://t.co/eSCxj4Jwql pic.twitter.com/LBvNHq7Oth
— Anne Longfield (@annelongfield) April 21, 2021
Longfield was initially notified about the breach of children’s data in January after a 12-year-old girl from the U.K contacted her after TikTok used the girl’s data for advertising purposes – which violates European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation rules and the U.K.’s corresponding legislation.
Longfield has accused TikTok of pretending to be a social media platform while secretly working as a “data collection service”. The children’s personal data – which includes geo-locations, phone numbers and videos – has allegedly been used without their knowledge.
She also pointed out that even though TikTok allows users aged 13 and above, the platform does not have an adequate age verification measure in place which has led many users that are below the age of 13 to join and access the platform:
“Clearly, they know under-13s are using it, companies often say kids put the wrong age on but my view is that isn’t good enough. Knowing kids will do that, you need additional measures to provide more robust verification of children when they are online.”
TikTok responded to the allegations stating that user privacy has always been vital to them and that the accusations ‘lack merit’:
“Privacy and safety are top priorities for TikTok and we have robust policies, processes and technologies in place to help protect all users, and our teenage users in particular. We believe the claims lack merit and intend to vigorously defend the action”.
This will not be the first time TikTok has been sued for their illegal use of children’s data: TikTok was earlier fined $5.7 million by the Federal Trade Commission and $155,000 by the Korea Communications Commission (KCC).
Tom Southwell- a partner at the law firm Scott + Scott who will be representing Longfield’s case – stated:
“TikTok and ByteDance’s advertising revenue is built on the personal information of its users, including children. Profiting from this information without fulfilling its legal obligations, and its moral duty to protect children online, is unacceptable.”
Longfield hopes that the case will force TikTok to take responsibility for their actions and to delete the data that they’ve extracted:
“I’d like to see them acknowledge the problem, stop collecting the illegal data, delete the illegal data they have and put safeguards in place, so they can demonstrate that they’re acting responsibly. I’d like to see them reassure parents – they have introduced some measures over recent months – great, I’m pleased when people take action, but while this is absolutely at the core of what the business model is, any action won’t get to the heart of what needs to be done. So I think they need to communicate that to parents, they need to stop doing it, they need to delete it and put measures in place and then look at how they’re going to rebuild trust – I think that really is what we’re talking about”.