TikTok Faces New EU Probe Over User Data Sent to China
Brussels – TikTok is once again under investigation in Europe, this time for how it handles users’ personal data, especially information possibly sent to China.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) launched the new investigation, as it oversees TikTok’s data practices in the European Union. The DPC said it is following up on earlier findings where It had claimed it did not store European user data in China and that only Chinese employees accessed the data remotely when needed.
“As a result of that consideration, the DPC has now decided to open this new inquiry into TikTok,” the watchdog said.
Later, however, the company admitted that it had actually stored some user data on servers in China, contradicting its earlier statement.
“The purpose of the inquiry is to determine whether TikTok has complied with its relevant obligations under the GDPR in the context of the transfers now at issue, including the lawfulness of the transfers,” the regulator said, referring to the European Union’s strict privacy rules, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
This led the DPC to consider further action. Earlier this year, TikTok was fined €530 million (about $620 million) for unrelated privacy violations. Now, the regulator has officially opened a new investigation to see if TikTok followed EU data protection laws—specifically the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—in this case.
The main concern is whether regulators permitted companies to transfer and store user data outside the EU, and whether they implemented proper safeguards to protect that data. The GDPR allows such transfers only when the receiving country guarantees a level of privacy protection equal to that of the EU. China does not meet this standard.
Chinese tech company ByteDance owns TikTok, but the platform has not yet commented on the matter. Western countries have increasingly pressured TikTok over fears that it could collect sensitive information.
As the lead regulator for TikTok in the 27-member EU, the Irish DPC plays a key role in ensuring that the company follows strict privacy rules.