European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has confirmed TikTok is the focus of multiple ongoing investigations. A report from Engadget has revealed the investigations concern the transfer of European citizens’ data to China and advertisements aimed at minors. The European Commission says that it seeks to ensure that TikTok meets General Data Protection Regulation standards.
“The data practices of TikTok, including with respect to international data transfers, are the object of several ongoing proceedings,” Ursula von der Leyden stated.
“This includes an investigation by the Irish [Data Protection Commission] about TikTok’s compliance with several GDPR requirements, including as regards data transfers to China and the processing of data of minors, and litigation before the Dutch courts (in particular concerning targeted advertising regarding minors and data transfers to China).”
Not long ago, TikTok was accused of breaching EU consumer rules. In response to the complaint, the app agreed to strengthen its policies regarding ads and branded content. More recently, a report from BuzzFeed News prompted members of the European Parliament to raise additional concerns regarding the app’s access to citizens’ data. Specifically, the report declared that leaked audio from nearly seven dozen internal meetings showed that U.S. user data has been accessed from China.
“Everything is seen in China,” a member of the app’s Trust and Safety department said, according to BuzzFeed News.
Ultimately, TikTok issued a statement disputing the claims put forth by the report.
“We know we’re among the most scrutinized platforms from a security standpoint, and we aim to remove any doubt about the security of US user data,” a TikTok spokesperson stated.
“That’s why we hire experts in their fields, continually work to validate our security standards, and bring in reputable, independent third parties to test our defenses.” ByteDance did not provide additional comment.”
