TikTok fined for collecting children’s sensitive data in Canada, investigation finds

TikTok has reportedly agreed to a joint announcement with Canada’s federal and provincial privacy commissioners and is actively implementing measures to keep children safe from its website and app, after a Canadian investigation found its efforts to protect personal information were insufficient.

The results of the investigation showed that hundreds of thousands of Canadian children accessed TikTok each year, despite the company’s stated policy that its platform is not for users under the age 13.

It was further found that TikTok had collected sensitive information from a large number of Canadian children and used it for content targeting.

Dufresne said at a press conference, “TikTok collects vast amounts of personal information about its users, including children. This data is being used to target the content and ads that users see, which can leave harmful impacts on youth.”

TikTok to implement safety measures for younger ones

The company has agreed to implement age-assurance methods to keep underage users off the platform and to improve its communication, so users can understand them better.

They are further ready to implement changes that include preventing advertisers from targeting users under age 18, except based on general categories such as language, location, as well as enlarging the privacy information available to Canadian users.

The Chinese company ByteDance Ltd owned TikTok, and although Donald Trump worked with China on a deal to acquire American assets and transferred them to the U.S.

Additionally, TikTok has plans to expand its business in Canada in 2023, but a government order to align Canadian operations with security concerns is a big challenge.