Department of Justice Suing TikTok for Alleged Violations of Child Privacy Laws

TikTok is getting sued by the United States Department of Justice on behalf of the children.

via Complex:

The US Department of Justice has filed a new lawsuit against the social media platform, alleging that TikTok hasn’t been successful in preventing children from joining its app and has illegally collected kids’ personal data, per a press release.

The DOJ says TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have breached the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by giving kids the opportunity to create accounts without parental consent. Further, the lawsuit says that TikTok collects and keeps children’s data, including email addresses, phone numbers, and location. Though parents have inquired about deleting the information, TikTok allegedly hasn’t complied.

While TikTok has a “Kids Mode” for users younger than 13, the filing says that the app still “knowingly allowed children under 13 to create accounts in the regular TikTok experience and collected extensive personal information from those children without first providing parental notice or obtaining verifiable parental consent.”The new lawsuit arrives after TikTok failed to follow the terms of a 2019 agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission, which settled allegations that the platform illegally collected personal information from children younger than 13 years old. According to the settlement, TikTok was obligated to comply with COPPA. The DOJ claims TikTok has disregarded COPPA and the 2019 court order.

“TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids’ privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement.

A TikTok spokesperson slammed the accusations.

“We disagree with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed,” TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes said in a statement, per CNN. “We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to update and improve the platform. To that end, we offer age-appropriate experiences with stringent safeguards, proactively remove suspected underage users, and have voluntarily launched features such as default screentime limits, Family Pairing, and additional privacy protections for minors.”

At this point TikTok just needs to go — it’s causing far too many problems.

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