TikTok fined $15.9M by UK watchdog over misuse of kids’ data

By KELVIN CHAN
AP Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s privacy watchdog has hit TikTok with a multimillion-dollar penalty for misusing children’s data and violating other protections for users’ personal information. The Information Commissioner’s Office said Tuesday that it issued a $15.9 million fine to the short-video sharing app, which is wildly popular with young people. The watchdog says TikTok allowed as many as 1.4 million children in the U.K. under 13 to use the app despite the platform’s own rules prohibiting children that young from setting up accounts. The company says it works to keep the platform safe and off-limits to kids under 13. TikTok and its Chinese parent ByteDance are facing tightening scrutiny in the West over concerns about data privacy and cybersecurity risks.