TikTok Sued in UK for Billions over Use of Children's Data

The Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok is facing a major legal challenge from the former children’s commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, over the app’s collection and use of children’s data. TikTok faces potential damages in the billions if the lawsuit is successful.

BBC News reports that TikTok is facing a legal challenge from the former children’s commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, over how the Chinese-owned app collects and uses children’s data. The claim is being filed on behalf of millions of children in the UK and E.U. who use the video-sharing app.

If the legal challenge is successful, each child affected could be owed thousands of dollars, meaning the company’s potential liability ranges into the billions. TikTok claims that the case has no merit and will fight it. Lawyers will reportedly allege that TikTok takes children’s personal information including phone numbers, videos, exact location, and biometric data without sufficient warning, transparency, or the necessary consent required by law.

TikTok said in response: “Privacy and safety are top priorities for TikTok and we have robust policies, processes and technologies in place to help protect all users, and our teenage users in particular. We believe the claims lack merit and intend to vigorously defend the action.”

The claim is being launched on behalf of all children in the UK and E.U. who have used TikTok since May 25, 2018, regardless of whether they have an account or their individual privacy settings. Longfield told BBC News that she was focusing on TikTok as while all social media platforms collect information, TikTok’s collection was “excessive.”

“TikTok is a hugely popular social media platform that has helped children keep in touch with their friends during an incredibly difficult year. However, behind the fun songs, dance challenges and lip-sync trends lies something far more sinister,” Longfield stated. She alleges that the firm is “a data collection service that is thinly veiled as a social network” which has “deliberately and successfully deceived parents.”