FTC Escalates TikTok Privacy Concerns, Alleges Children’s Privacy Violations

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has forwarded a complaint against TikTok and its Chinese parent firm ByteDance to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

It claimed that they had failed to protect children’s privacy.

According to the FTC, it discovered evidence that TikTok and ByteDance were or are likely to breach the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

The regulator did not disclose any more information on the suspected infringement in its statement.

The FTC stated that it does not normally make complaint referrals public, but that doing so now is in the public interest.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is in charge of consumer protection in the United States and also plays an essential role in competition policy.

TikTok denied the charges in a statement on X, stating that it has been in contact with the FTC for over a year.

“We are disappointed that the agency is pursuing litigation rather than continuing to work with us on a reasonable solution,” it stated.

TikTok also stated that many of the FTC’s complaints about previous events and procedures were factually incorrect or had been resolved.

In 2019, TikTok agreed to pay 5.7 million dollars to resolve FTC accusations against its predecessor firm, Musically, over the gathering of data from minors under the age of 13.

These collections were conducted without parental authorization, in violation of US law.

The FTC’s current investigation of TikTok and its Chinese-based parent firm ByteDance began with an audit to establish if the platform was in compliance with the conditions of the prior agreement.

TikTok is now engaging in a separate legal struggle in the United States over a proposed law that would require a change of ownership.

Politicians in the United States are afraid that the Chinese government may gain access to data from American users via ByteDance and utilize the app for propaganda.
TikTok refuted the claims and is pursuing legal action in the United States.