TikTok in legal fight over keeping children's private data
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TikTok is facing a legal battle over how it collects and uses children's data.
The challenge is being put in by Anne Longfield, the former children's commissioner for England, on behalf of of millions of children in the UK and European Union who have used the hugely popular video-sharing app.
If successful, the children affected could each be owed thousands of pounds.
TikTok said it would fight the case.
What has TikTok been accused of?
TikTok's audience tends to be younger than that of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter
The app requires that users be at least 13 years old to use the full TikTok experience.
But just under half (44%) of eight to 12-year-olds in the UK use TikTok, despite its rules banning under-13s, according to Ofcom.
Lawyers will claim that TikTok takes children's personal information - including phone numbers, videos and exact locations - without giving enough warning, transparency or the necessary permission required by law.
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.
They also say that it is all taking place without children or parents knowing what is being done with that information.
TikTok has more than 800 million users worldwide and parent company ByteDance made billions in profits last year, with most of that money coming from advertising.
Something 'sinister' behind fun songs
Anne Longfield was England's Children's Commissioner for six years
The claim is being launched on behalf of all children who have used TikTok since 25 May 2018, regardless of whether they have an account or their privacy settings.
Children not wishing to be represented can choose to pull out.
Ms Longfield told the BBC she was focusing on TikTok because, while all social media platforms collected information, TikTok had "excessive" data collection rules.
She claims the company is "a data collection service that is thinly veiled as a social network" which has "deliberately and successfully deceived parents".
TikTok is a hugely popular social media platform that has helped children keep in touch with their friends during an incredibly difficult year. However, behind the fun songs, dance challenges and lip-sync trends lies something far more sinister.
She added that those parents have a "right to know" what private information is being collected via TikTok's "shadowy data collection practices".
"TikTok and ByteDance's advertising revenue is built on the personal information of its users, including children," said Tom Southwell from the law firm Scott and Scott, which is representing the case.
"Profiting from this information without fulfilling its legal obligations, and its moral duty to protect children online, is unacceptable."
Has TikTok been in trouble before?
Yes. In 2019, the Chinese company was given a record fine just over £4m by the Federal Trade Commission in the US, for mishandling children's data.
The firm has been fined in South Korea over how it collects children's data, and in the UK, it has been investigated by the Information Commissioner's Office.
That action revolved around Musical.ly, which was incorporated into TikTok, knowingly hosting content published by users under the age of 13.
TikTok was ordered to delete the data and set up an age verification system.
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