TikTok could face a £27 million fine over a possible breach of UK data protection law by failing to protect the privacy of children on the platform.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued the social media company with a notice of intent — a legal document that precedes a potential fine.

According to the notice, between May 2018 and July 2020, TikTok may have processed the data of children under the age of 13 without appropriate parental consent, failed to provide proper information to its users in a concise, transparent and easily understood way and processed special category data without legal grounds to do so.

‘We all want children to be able to learn and experience the digital world, but with proper data privacy protections,’ said Information Commissioner John Edwards.

‘Companies providing digital services have a legal duty to put those protections in place, but our provisional view is that TikTok fell short of meeting that requirement,’

However, experts believe that it will take a lot more than big fines and bad publicity to damage the increasing successes of TikTok.

‘Many young people are hooked on the platform and have no desire to keep their data away from the app even when privacy is of its greatest importance,’ said Jake Moore, Global Cyber Security Advisor at ESET.

‘Making young people care about their personal data is a tough challenge and should not just be directed at the tech firms to clear up as companies will always attempt a workaround with data being so valuable,’

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