Justice Department Sues TikTok Over Alleged Violations Of Child Privacy Laws

deadline.com:

The Justice Department filed suit against TikTok and its parent ByteDance, claiming that the popular app violated children’s privacy laws.

The government alleged that since 2019, TikTok “knowingly permitted children to create regular TikTok accounts and to create, view, and share short-form videos and messages with adults and others on the regular TikTok platform.

The defendants collected and retained a wide variety of personal information from these children without notifying or obtaining consent from their parents.” According to the lawsuit, that is in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and the accompanying regulations, which prohibits website operators from collecting or using personal date of children under 13 unless they obtain consent of parents.

The DOJ also claims that TikTok failed to honor parents’ requests to delete accounts and information when they discovered their child’s use.