BIG BUCKS

TikTok Hit With Massive $367 Million Fine for Mishandling Kids’ Data

The social network says it “respectfully” disagrees with the Irish Data Protection Commission’s ruling.

TikTok was slapped with a massive $367 million fine on Friday for improperly handling children’s data. The Irish Data Protection Commission determined that the social media giant violated the EU’s data-privacy laws with how it processed information on teenage users—namely that it defaulted new sign-ups to be public accounts, including those created by kids. The commission also took issue with a TikTok “family pairing” feature that allowed some minors to send direct messages on the app if an unverified parent or guardian gave the OK. The commission ruled these steps by TikTok, which occurred in 2020, took the app out of compliance with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation. TikTok said in a statement it “respectfully” disagrees with the commission’s ruling, “particularly the level of the fine imposed.” TikTok said it was especially upset with the ruling because it had fixed each violation prior to the commission launching its probe.