TikTok fined 530 million euros for 'privacy' violations

Ireland's national data protection commission, which hosts TikTok's European headquarters, has fined TikTok 530 million euros for violating EU privacy rules as part of an investigation launched in September 2021.

The investigation conducted by the Irish Data Protection Commission revealed that TikTok's data transfers to China exposed users to the risk of espionage and violated EU data privacy rules.

The commission also accused TikTok of failing to be transparent about where users' personal data is sent and ordered the company to comply with the rules within 6 months.

Because TikTok's European headquarters is in Dublin, the commission serves as the main data privacy regulator for the Chinese company across the EU. It stated that TikTok failed to demonstrate and provide guarantees that personal data belonging to European users is not accessible to authorities in China.

TIKTOK APPEALS

TikTok announced that it does not accept the decision and plans to appeal. In a statement released by TikTok regarding the matter, it was stated that the decision focuses on a specific period ending in May 2023, which predates the start of "Project Clover," a localization project that includes the construction of three data centers in Europe.

"Project Clover includes some of the strictest data protection measures in the industry, and these also encompass unprecedented independent audits by the NCC Group, one of Europe's leading cybersecurity firms," said Christine Grahn, TikTok's Head of Public Policy and Government Relations for Europe. Grahn added, "This decision fails to fully take into account comprehensive data security measures."

Grahn stated that TikTok has never received a request from Chinese authorities for the data of its European users and that this data has never been shared.

TikTok, which has nearly 2 billion users worldwide, is subject to strict oversight by the European Union due to the risk of European user data being sent to China, as it is owned by the China-based company ByteDance.

TikTok is also facing other investigations by the Irish-based regulatory body. The commission accuses TikTok of providing false information during the investigation regarding the claim that data belonging to users in Europe was not stored on servers in China. In 2023, the Irish regulatory body also fined the company hundreds of millions of euros as part of a separate investigation into child privacy.

News Source: İHA