London, May 2, (dpa/GNA) – TikTok has been fined €530 million ($601 million) for violating EU personal data protection rules by transferring data to China, an Irish regulator said on Friday.
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) stated that TikTok broke the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by transferring personal information of European users to China, and also failed to meet the EU’s standards for transparency.
The Data Protection Commission (DPC) serves as the primary regulatory body for major technology companies with their European bases located in Ireland. Previously, it has levied penalties against firms like Amazon and Meta. In 2023, the commission also issued a fine of €345 million to TikTok due to its practices concerning data associated with minors under the age of 18.
In the course of the investigation, the video-sharing application stated that it didn’t keep any European user data on Chinese servers; however, in April, they acknowledged that this occurred to some degree, according to the DPC.
Graham Doyle, the deputy head of DPC, stated that TikTok could not ensure that user data from Europe, when accessed by Chinese employees, was safeguarded according to GDPR standards, which apply within the EU.
The platform did not, for example, take into account the possibility that Chinese authorities could access the data, Doyle said.
TikTok stated that the data was subsequently removed; however, the DPC mentioned they are still contemplating additional regulatory actions in collaboration with European Union data protection authorities.
TikTok has the option to contest this penalty, which besides imposing a financial charge also mandates that the company modify its data handling practices to align with European Union regulations within half a year.
The parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, has its headquarters in China; however, the leadership at TikTok has consistently stressed that the majority stake in ByteDance belongs to overseas investors.
ByteDance still needs to adhere to the regulations set by the Chinese government through its base in Beijing.
The firm has already faced criticism in the U.S., where specialists are concerned that it might enable American user data to be accessed by the Chinese government.
A year ago, former President Joe Biden enacted a law requiring ByteDance to withdraw from its U.S. operations or face a ban. However, his successor, President Donald Trump, has continually pushed back the deadline for the app’s sale.
GNA
PDC
Provided by Syndigate Media Inc. (
Syndigate.info
).
