TikTok has agreed to strengthen its measures to prevent children from accessing its platform after a Canadian investigation revealed that the app’s protections were insufficient. Canadian privacy officials announced the findings, they highlighted that hundreds of thousands of Canadian children accessed TikTok annually, despite the company’s policy stating that users must be at least 13 years old. The joint investigation, led by Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne along with privacy authorities from Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, found that TikTok had collected sensitive personal information from a significant number of Canadian minors, using this data for targeted marketing and content. “Tik Tok collects vast amounts of personal information about its users, including children. This data is being used to target the content and ads that users see, which can have harmful impacts, particularly on youth”, Dufresne stated during a press conference announcing the investigation’s results. In response, TikTok has pledge to enhance its age-assurance methods to prevent underage users from accessing the platform and to improve communication regarding data usage, especially for younger users. The company has also agreed to several changes during the investigation, including restricting advertisers from targeting users under 18, except based on general categories like language and approximate location and expanding privacy information available to Canadian users. A TikTok spokesperson expressed satisfaction that the privacy commissioners supported many if its proposals to enhance protections for Canadian users, stating “While we disagree with some of the findings, we remain committed to maintaining strong transparency and privacy practices”. However, the spokesperson did not clarify which findings TikTok contested. Canada joins a growing list of governments and regulators scrutinising TikTok over concerns that the Chinese government could exploit the app for data collection or to further its interests. TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd, has faced similar scrutiny world wide with the European Union banning the app from staff phones and the US Senate passing legislation to prohibit federal employees from using it on government devices. In 2023, Ottawa began investigating TikTok’s plans to invest and expand its operations in Canada, leading to a government order to halt its Canadian operations due to national security concerns a decision that TikTok is currently challenging.
TikTok under fire in Canada for inadequate protection of children data
