12-year-old British girl sued TikTok for “children’s information illegally”

There are reports that a 12-year-old British girl is trying to take legal action against the video sharing service TikTok. The girl claims that TikTok and Musica.ly are collecting and using data on children in a form contrary to British and EU laws. Also, they are asking for the deletion of their data.

A British court decided to keep the girl’s identity anonymous because her identity was revealed and that she was at risk of being bullied by other children and TikTok users. Therefore, in this lawsuit, the Children’s Commissioner acting as a child’s agent to promote interests from the perspective of child rights on policies or decisions regarding children will be represented.

According to the agent, TikTok is maximizing ad revenue that attracts viewers’ attention by collecting and analyzing data about children and optimizing video recommendation algorithms. Meanwhile, TikTok said that privacy and safety are the top priority in the service, and that it is introducing strong policies, processes, and technologies to protect young users. He added that it is a decision that cannot be used by those under the age of 13, and that accounts considered to be used by those under the age of 13 will be actively reviewed and removed.

However, the plaintiff’s lawyer stated in the terms and conditions that users under the age of 13 cannot use it, but it is clear that there are many users under this age, and some famous stars are around the age of 13 and the service is aimed at children of the generation who use the app. Insisted. In addition, the personal information handled by TikTok claimed that the user name, date of birth, location, and device information about the photo or video itself created, IP address, Facebook, etc., from connection accounts to information search history, and cookies.

Surrounding TikTok, the FTC of the Federal Trade Commission in 2019 imposed a $5.7 million fine for handling child data, and Korea also imposed a fine in 2020 for similar reasons. This lawsuit is an early stage, and since TikTok has not been notified of the lawsuit, it is said to be a stage to identify the situation and review the impact.

Meanwhile, there are age restrictions on social media. Twitter and Line are also prohibited for those under the age of 12 to 13. YouTube also stipulates that users must be 13 years of age or older, and YouTube Kids is recommended for younger children. Although the service may be collecting personal information for children, there is always a risk of posting content including personal information on their own when using the app by a child who does not have the ability to judge. If the child is using social media or video services, parents need to check at least the age limit for each service. Related information can be found here .