TikTok is being sued by the US government for allegedly breaking children's privacy laws
In a lawsuit filed on Friday, the US Justice Department said that TikTok had failed to prevent minors from using the app and had improperly gathered their personal information.
TikTok and its parent business, ByteDance, are being sued for allegedly breaking the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by permitting minors to register for accounts without their parents' awareness or approval.
The lawsuit claims that TikTok also gathers and keeps track of children's personal information, including phone numbers, email addresses, and location data, and that it disobeys parental requests to remove their children's data.The action on Friday is a result of a 2019 settlement reached by TikTok and the US Federal Trade Commission to resolve claims that the latter unlawfully obtained personal data from minors. The settlement mandated that the business implement particular COPPA compliance measures. According to the Justice Department, TikTok has persisted in breaking the law and that court order in 2019.
As per the complaint filed in California district court, TikTok has gathered extensive personal information from children under the age of 13 without obtaining verifiable parental consent or providing parental notice, even though the platform offers a "Kids Mode" for users below that age.
The popular short-form video app is currently under investigation for another rule that might lead to its suspension in the US; the case is the latest in a judicial struggle over the app. TikTok was punished in Europe for infringing on children's privacy rights and has previously been accused of failing to keep its younger members safe.
FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement on Friday that "TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids' privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country."
A representative for TikTok refuted the accusations.
A spokesman for TikTok, Michael Hughes, stated in a statement, "We disagree with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed." "We take pride in the work we do to safeguard youngsters, and we'll keep the platform updated and enhanced. In order to do this, we proactively remove users who may be underage, provide age-appropriate experiences with strong security measures, and have voluntarily introduced features like Family Pairing, default screen time limitations, and extra privacy protections for children.
On the other hand, Friday's complaint contends that TikTok hasn't gone far enough to guarantee that kids younger than 13 remain off the platform. Among those allegations is the lawsuit's claim that TikTok did not stop a child from trying again with a different birthdate "even though by that point (TikTok) knew from the celebration the user had submitted before that the user was a child" if the child attempted to register for an account but was denied after providing a date of birth proving they were under 13.
The lawsuit further claims that TikTok "failed to create a simple process for families to submit a removal request" for the child's data, calling the deletion procedure "convoluted," even in the event that a parent found their child's account. Furthermore, it states that TikTok "often did not honor" requests from parents, even if they were submitted.
The DOJ is suing to obtain a court order and monetary fines to stop any further COPPA violations.