TikTok privacy settlement faces major setback as US judge raises concerns

A federal judge has reportedly raised concerns on Friday regarding TikTok’s proposed $400 million settlement after reports indicating he seeks to reject key terms of the agreement.

TikTok and its Chinese parent company agreed in August to resolve allegations that the short-video application violated US children’s data protection laws.

As prescribed in the agreement, TikTok agreed to pay $300 million and a further $100 million if a court terminated a 2019 consent judgment. However, the court ruled that the parties failed to provide a permanent solution tailored to these changed conditions without presenting further details.

The company failed to obtain consent before data collection with names, email addresses and other personal information. The $400 million settlement originates from a Justice Department lawsuit filed in 2024 as TikTok, and ByteDance are failing to safeguard children's privacy.

According to the government, TikTok had evolved substantially since the filing of the lawsuit including its ownership structure and management.

Furthermore, the TikTok US joint venture stated in a court filing requires all users to enter their data signatures to use the platform to create sophisticated age-moderation systems to identify children who misrepresented their age.