TikTok Undergoes Multiple Investigations Regarding its Data Practices, EU Confirms

A confirmation from the EU President and the EU Executive Branch has been released that TikTok is undergoing multiple investigations into its data practices. As per the probe, the commission is concerned regarding the data of EU citizens being transferred to China and targeted advertisements for minors.

TikTok's Data Practices Investigation

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyden, along with the European Union Executive Branch, confirmed that Tiktok undergoes multiple investigations.

Based on a report from Engadget, the concern revolves around if the company has been transferring data from EU citizens to the Chinese authorities. This move was a response to the concerns that were raised by European Parliament regarding the potential data access.

While TikTok already denied the accusations of Chinese-based workers tracking locations for Bytedance, the EU still continued with the investigations.

Aside from data tracking, the commission is also investigating the application regarding its targeted advertisements to minors.

Von der Leyden wrote in a letter, "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)."

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr tweeted the confirmation from the European Commission, which comes after concerns that were raised last August.

The top Republican commissioner also commented before that TikTok should be banned from the United States, and urged Apple and Google to remove it from their own application stores.

According to Gearrice, this was not the first time TikTok received an investigation from the authorities in Europe. Earlier this year, a complaint from the EU accusing the platform of infringing the rules of the aforementioned territory based on consumer rules.

Beyond EU

Aside from the European Union, TikTok has been investigated by the United States. A few days ago, a bipartisan warning was issued to TikTok by Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton and Virginia Democrat Senator Mark Warner. This was issued as a warning from the government to the public that potential risks may occur when using the application.

TikTok was described by Cotton as of the most massive surveillance programs ever that heavily targets young audiences in America. While based on the claims from Warner, which is the Senate Intelligence Committee Chair, All of that data that your child is inputting and receiving, is being stored somewhere in Beijing." Both senators see TikTok as an enormous threat to the country.

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Written by Inno Flores