As you might know, in February of this year, TikTok paid an astounding $5.7 million in fines after CARU referred a case against the app to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). TikTok (aka Musical.ly) is a platform that allows users to create and post short videos lip-syncing to music, in addition to social networking aspects. Now, concerns have arisen about how children’s data is collected  in the United Kingdom. Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, told a parliamentary committee, “We’re looking at the messaging system, which is completely open, we’re looking at the kind of videos that are collected and shared by children online. We do have an active investigation into TikTok right now, so watch this space.” Under the EU’s general data protection regulation (GDPR), a company can be fined up to 20 million euros, or 4% of revenue, whichever is higher for violations. In response, TikTok released a statement saying, “We cooperate with organizations su...

Today, February 27, 2019, the FTC issued the largest civil penalty ever obtained on a children’s privacy case. Musical.ly (now called TikTok) has agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC’s) complaint that the company illegally collected personal information from children. Musical.ly also agreed to comply with Children Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) going forward and to take down all videos made by children under the age of 13. Musical.ly’s platform allowed users to create and post short videos lip-syncing to music, as well as communicate with other users in the social network. All users were required to provide a first and last name, email address, phone number, profile picture, and biography to register for the app. The company had knowledge that a significant portion of its users were under 13 years old. The FTC learned of the issues when CARU referred the matter to the FTC last spring. In its complaint, the FTC claimed that th...