U.S. Sues TikTok for Significant Child Privacy Violations

This week the Department of Justice sued TikTok for “flagrantly violating” the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (“COPPA Rule”), and a FTC Consent Order from 2019 resulting from previous COPPA and FTC Act violations. The complaint’s three main allegations include: 1) TikTok collecting “extensive data” from children under 13 without parental consent, 2) allowing and maintaining accounts for users it knew were under 13, and 3) failing to comply with requests from parents to delete their children’s accounts and personal information. By allowing kids under 13 to evade TikTok’s age gate and by continuing to collect their personal information without parental consent, the complaint alleges that TikTok violated COPPA and the COPPA Rule, as well as the terms of the 2019 Consent Order. Additionally, the complaint alleged that TikTok ignored requests from parents to delete their children’s data and personal information, in violation of requirements in both the COPPA Rule and the 2019 Permanent Injunction to honor those requests.

In 2020, EPIC joined a coalition of groups to file a complaint with the FTC urging an investigation into TikTok’s continued COPPA violations.  EPIC regularly advocates for privacy safeguards for children online. Recently, EPIC filed comments supporting the FTC’s effort to modernize the COPPA Rule and comments in response to NTIA’s Initiative to Protect Youth Mental Health, Safety & Privacy Online.