TikTok — children's data — 60s explainer (E02)

01 / 08 · Setup

TIKTOK. CHILD. 11 YEARS OLD.

and has an account there

02 / 08 · Tension

PRIVATE ? PUBLIC BY DEFAULT.

for years

03 / 08 · Reveal

COPPA + GDPR

under 13 needs parental consent · 13–17 private by default

04 / 08 · Mechanism

sign-up with no age check → public profile → DMs open

Child

birth date with no verification

dark patterns · default settings

TikTok

public · comments · DMs

Family Pairing optional — rarely used

05 / 08 · Scale

400M EU USERS. 40% ARE CHILDREN.

Jul 2020 DPC audit 2021 investigations Sep 2023 fine

€345M

DPC Ireland

£12.7M

ICO UK

400M+

EU users

06 / 08 · Investigations

2021–2023

Anne Longfield

Children's Commissioner UK

ICO UK

April 2023 · £12.7M

DPC Ireland

September 2023 · €345M

TikTok on appeal · Irish High Court case

07 / 08 · Penalties

€357M

DPC + ICO combined

TikTok rolls out: private by default for 13–17, Family Pairing in marketing, no DMs for under-16s. Appeals continue.

08 / 08

TIKTOK — CHILDREN'S DATA

Children don't read terms of service. The platform knew it. DPC Ireland: €345M.
Case E02 in Big Tech Files.