 "UK launches probe into how TikTok uses children’s personal data to recommend content")
Chinese social media platform TikTok is facing a probe by the UK’s data watchdog over its handling of children’s data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is aiming to understand how TikTok processes data of kids aged 13 to 17 to further recommend them content and keep them engaged.
According to John Edwards, the Information Commissioner, there are certain risks associated with handling of data related to kids, including the sensitive information being leaked.
However, it must be noted that the probe itself doesn’t mean the company has broken any law.
Why is TikTok being investigated?
TikTok’s algorithm uses and analyses a user’s engagement pattern to recommend more content to them.
It also feeds on the users’ personal data, including profiles, interests, content consumed and links clicked.
John Edwards says this aspect of TikTok’s operations warrants a thorough investigation by the ICO. The probe will check whether the social media company adheres to the UK’s data protection laws as well as the children code, which lays out protocols to handle children’s data.
TikTok’s clarification
In a statement to UK broadcaster BBC, TikTok said it had comprehensive measures in place to protect data of teens.
It said its systems operated under “strict and comprehensive measures that protect the privacy and safety of teens”. The statement added that the platform has “robust restrictions on the content allowed in teens’ feeds”.
Reddit and Imgur also being probed
The ICO has also launched similar probes against Reddit and Imgur, focusing on their handling of children’s data.
The investigation will especially check how these platforms verify the users’ age and enforce age-related content regulation.
“I don’t want to pre-judge how we might look at the Imgur and Reddit matters, but if there are age limits for accessing services, then the platforms have to enforce those in some ways,” Edwards was quoted by BBC as saying.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsBoth Reddit and Imgur are immensely popular in the UK, with Reddit becoming the fifth most popular platform in the country.
“There are a number of different technologies and techniques that are available, I would say, and the degree of rigor, I think, depends in part upon the kinds of risks, the likelihood that children will be accessing those sites,” the commissioner further stated.
He added that if any of these companies are found to be in violation of UK laws, “there will be consequences”.
(With inputs from agencies)
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