Watchdogs Guns TikTok for Violating Children’s Privacy
TikTok is under scrutiny yet again as advocacy groups aim at the entertainment platform for collecting information from minors. The Chinese social networking service is allegedly collecting personal data from children under even under 13 years old.
The technology experts say that the platform violates the federal privacy law and the Federal Trade Commission’s recent consent decree.
Several organizations have already filed new FTC complaints against the video-sharing platform. Among them are the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center for Digital Democracy.
According to the recently filed complaint, TikTok appears to continue to pursue growth at the expense of children’s privacies. Adding that strong action from the FTC is needed to protect children from privacy risks.
In the complaint, it said that the Chinese platform now has 800 million users worldwide.
Since the pandemic began, the platform has seen a surge in users as people, and even children, seek indoor entertainment.
Technology news reports say that the watchdogs are urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the platform. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance and its officials are also being asked to undergo investigations.
The recent allegations come 14 months after the company agreed to pay 5.7 million USD to settle prior FTW complaints. Moreover, this settled the allegations of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
The said law prohibits various websites from collecting personal data from children under 13 without any parental consent. Following that, the platform agreed to delete videos created by children under 12 years old.
And according to the FTC, a significant percentage of the platform’s users were still under the age of 13.
New Horizons
Moreover, despite the ongoing accusations, the video-sharing platform extends its strategic partnership with Innity. TikTok has now expanded its partnerships to about 22 countries from all over Asia, Europe, and the United States.
Innity is one of the leading digital media solution services and marketing company in Malaysia. It is now also the official reseller of the Chinese video-sharing platform.
Back in 2019, TikTok has dominated modern technology and the social application sector as the most downloaded application.
Furthermore, the platform reportedly generated $176.9 million in just 2019 alone.
Through the partnership with Innity, the company would reach a new market and widen its engagement with more potential audiences. The deal widens TikTok’s audience not just Malaysia, but to other Asian countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and more.
Throughout the years, the Chinese platform has outgrown even Twitter and Snapchat. And thanks to the ongoing pandemic, the demand for the platform has surged greatly.
