A 12-year-old girl hopes she will take legal action against the TikTok, the in-vogue video sharing program, claiming the company is using children’s information illegally.
The court ruled that the girl could remain anonymous if the case continued.
What’s The Accusation On TikTok?
The move is backed up by Anne Longfield, England’s children’s commissioner. She believes TikTok has violated UK and EU data protection laws.
TikTok said it has “strong policies” to protect children and does not allow under-13s to join.
Ms Longfield hopes the case will lead to greater measures to protect under-16 users using TikTok in England and possibly more.
She believes the app collects and processes children’s data to power its video-recommendation algorithm, to capture viewers’ attention and generate advertising revenue.
The commissioner told the London High Court – using a video link – that she hoped it would eventually issue an order compelling the company to delete the children’s details, for setting the right example.
An Anonymous Messiah
But the focus of the first hearing was on deciding whether the 12-year-old girl could apply anonymously.
Mr Justice Warby ruled that the girl was at risk of being harassed by other children and other TikTok users if her identity was revealed.
He said he could face “hostile reactions from social media influencers who might feel their status or earnings were under threat”.
Ms Longfield is awaiting the completion of a data protection case against Google before deciding to sue TikTok.
TikTok And Privacy Policies
In 2019, TikTok was fined $ 5.7m (£ 4.2m) by the US Federal Trade Commission for mishandling child information.
South Korea imposed a fine for the same reasons in 2020.
In a statement, TikTok said: “Privacy and safety are top priorities for TikTok and we have robust policies, processes and technologies in place to protect all users, and our younger users in particular. As this application was made without notice, we first became aware of the application and the High Court’s judgment [on Wednesday] and are currently considering its implications.”
The terms and conditions of the application state that the service is not available to those under 13 and all users are asked their age when registering.
It actively reviews and removes accounts that appear to be used by under-13s.
