A former children’s commissioner for England has launched a “reference case” against the TikTok video sharing application, claiming that he is illegally collecting the personal information of his children’s users.
Anne Longfield, who served as commissioner between March 2015 and February this year, filed a high court application on behalf of millions of children in the UK and the European Economic Area who have used TikTok since March 25, 2018.
She claims that the application violates the data protection law for children in the UK and the EU and aims to stop the processing of information of millions of children, make it delete all existing data and pay compensation that she believes could reach billion pounds.
Despite being at least 13 years old, Ofcom found last year that 42% of children aged 8 to 12 in the UK used TikTok. As with other social media companies, such as Facebook, there have long been concerns about data collection, and the UK Information Commissioner’s Office is investigating how TikTok manages children’s personal information.
Longfield said: “We’re not trying to say it’s not fun. Families like it. It was something that was really important for blocking, it helped people keep in touch, they were very happy. But my opinion is that the price they have to pay should not be there – for their personal information to be illegally collected en masse and passed on to others, most likely for financial gain, without them even knowing it. about it.
“And the excessive nature of that collection is something that led us to [challenge] TikTok rather than others. Is that for that [age] the group of children is the chosen application, but it is also the type of information they collect – it may not be suitable for a video application, especially the exact location, and probably also face recognition. ”
The legal complaint alleges that TikTok takes children’s personal information without sufficient warning, transparency or the necessary consent required by law and without parents and children knowing what to do with their private information. Longfield believes that more than 3.5 million children in the UK alone could have been affected.
TikTok’s privacy policy states that it collects information “that you share with us from third-party social network providers and technical and behavioral information about your use of the platform”. It is also said to collect information from the user’s phonebook, if access is granted. Information may be shared with service providers and business partners for purposes, including advertising and marketing, in accordance with the policy.
Longfield, who introduces the case as a representative action for those who claim to have suffered harm, said TikTok’s business model regarding personal data is “disproportionate”, adding: “Children cannot give consent”. She believed that this case could be a benchmark in establishing a framework for the responsibilities of social media companies towards children and families.
A TikTok spokesperson said: “Privacy and security are top priorities for TikTok and we have strong policies, processes and technologies to protect all users, especially our teenage users. We believe that the claims are without merit and we intend to vigorously defend the action. ”
In February last year, ByteDance, the Chinese company headquartered in the Cayman Islands that owns TikTok, was fined a record 4.2 million pounds ($ 5.7 million) in the United States for illegally collecting personal information. in children under 13 years.
Tom Southwell, a partner at Scott + Scott, who works for Longfield, said: “TikTok and ByteDance’s advertising revenue is based on the personal information of its users, including their children. Taking advantage of this information without fulfilling their legal obligations and moral duty to protect children online is unacceptable. ”
ByteDance was approached by the Guardian for comment, but did not respond.