TikTok may face £27m fine in UK

In brief

TikTok could face a £27m fine after an investigation by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The ICO has issued “a notice of intent”, a legal document that precedes a potential fine, to TikTok Inc and TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited for breaching UK data protection law between May 2018 and July 2020, by failing to protect children’s privacy on the Bytedance-owned platform.

The notice outlines that the ICO investigation found TikTok may have processed the data of children under the age of 13 without appropriate parental consent, failed to provide proper information to its users in a “concise, transparent and easily understood way”, and processed special category data, including on ethnic and racial origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, trade union membership, genetic and biometric data, and health data, without legal grounds to do so.

These findings are provisional and the ICO has said it will carefully consider any representations from TikTok before taking a final decision.