Brazil Fines TikTok $30m Over Child Data Privacy Violations

Brazil’s data protection authority has fined ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, nearly $30 million for allegedly mishandling the personal data of children and teenagers.

The regulator said TikTok violated Brazil’s data privacy laws by collecting and processing young users’ personal information without a valid legal basis or adequate safeguards. The violations reportedly affected both users with registered accounts and people browsing TikTok without logging in.

According to the authority, TikTok may have processed the personal data of at least 8 million children, exposing weaknesses in the platform’s age-verification system.

The regulator also ordered TikTok to delete all illegally collected data and develop a stronger system to protect children and teenagers. It particularly criticised TikTok’s “logged-out feed”, which allows people to browse content without creating an account and, according to the authority, enables minors to bypass age-verification measures.

TikTok has 10 days to appeal the decision.

The action is part of Brazil’s broader efforts to strengthen protections for minors online. Earlier this month, Brazilian authorities ordered Discord to suspend its livestreaming feature nationwide after accusing the platform of failing to adequately protect children and teenagers.

Under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s government and Supreme Court have been pursuing tighter regulation of children’s internet use, amid similar initiatives in countries including Australia, Canada and Indonesia.

• Tweet
• Share
• Share
• Share
• Share