According to the UK’s data authority, TikTok has been penalised £12.7 million for failing to protect the privacy of children.
According to the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) inquiry, the video-sharing software violated data protection laws.
The violations allegedly took place between May 2018 and July 2020.
The ICO provided TikTok with a “notice of intent” in September, which served as a warning before it could be penalized.
Despite its own policies prohibiting children under 13 from opening an account, the ICO estimates that TikTok allowed up to 1.4 million UK children under 13 to use the site in 2020.
UK data protection law says that platforms that use personal data when offering information to children under 13 must have parental consent.
Information commissioner John Edwards said: “There are laws in place to make sure our children are as safe in the digital world as they are in the physical world. TikTok did not abide by those laws.
“As a consequence, an estimated one million under 13s were inappropriately granted access to the platform, with TikTok collecting and using their personal data. That means that their data may have been used to track them and profile them, potentially delivering harmful, inappropriate content at their very next scroll.
“TikTok should have known better. TikTok should have done better. Our £12.7m fine reflects the serious impact their failures may have had.”