European Union confirmed that it is organizing several investigations into the data practices of TikTok
After the US did so long ago, the European Union revealed that it is preparing a number of inquiries into TikTok’s data practices and the manner in which the company’s advertisements are directed at children. Data from EU users were being transmitted to China, according to a letter sent by a member of the European Parliament. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, acknowledged that the Union was looking into Tiktok in response to that letter. Operatives want to make sure TikTok complies with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
“The data practices of TikTok, including with respect to international data transfers, are the subject of several ongoing proceedings,” von der Leyen said in her response.
“This includes an investigation by the Irish [Data Protection Commission] about TikTok’s compliance with several GDPR requirements, including as regards data transfers to China and the processing of data of minors, and litigation before the Dutch courts (in particular concerning targeted advertising regarding minors and data transfers to China).”
Due to the manner in which it manages user data, the social media platform TikTok has recently received attention. The internal audit and risk control departments of the business allegedly intended to gather location data on US individuals, according to a Forbes piece published last month. TikTok refuted the allegations, claiming that it has never used the site to target activists, public figures, or those connected to the US government.
TikTok agreed to implement some measures earlier this year in response to complaints about violations of EU consumer standards covering advertisements and branded content. ByteDance, a Chinese corporation, is the owner of Tiktok. The software is known as Douyin in China. Douyin is translated as a vibrating sound in Chinese. It features a range of user-submitted videos, including dances, jokes, tricks, and pranks.
Although Tiktok and Douyin do not have access to one another’s material, their user interfaces are the same. Additionally, they differ in terms of features. For example, Douyin offers an in-video search feature that looks for additional videos of a specific individual by searching their face. Tiktok will surpass 2 billion mobile downloads globally since its introduction in October 2020. Google was surpassed as the most popular website in 2021 by Cloudfare on Tiktok. After Zoom and Peacock, Morning Consult ranked Tiktok as the third fastest-growing brand in 2020.