TikTok Will Pay $5.7M After FTC Charges Over Children's Data Privacy

After charges from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that accuse TikTok of illegally collecting children’s personal information, the company will pay an amount of $5.7 million.

TikTok’s former name is Musical.ly, the platform allows its users to record their own lip-synching clips on popular songs and share them with friends. Recently, the TikTok app has crossed the mark of 1 billion downloads on Android and iOS devices.

As per the charges, the FTC accused the operators of TikTok app for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act when it failed to get approved by the children’s parents before gathering personal information on those under 13 years old, as stated in a release on Wednesday. The Commission also said that TikTok did not delete that private info even when parents and children complained.

Joe Simons, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission said:

In addition, it was noted in the release that this is the largest civil penalty ever the FTC has ever obtained regarding children’s privacy cases.

Along with the settlement, the social platform announced that from Wednesday, it will guide younger users to a limited, standalone app experience that includes extra privacy and safety protections created for this type of audience. This version of TikTok blocks sharing personal info as well as restricts content and interactions.

Also on Wednesday, the social video platform launched several safety videos in which users will be guided through its community guidelines, digital well-being tools, and privacy settings.

Furthermore, as in the settlement, TikTok has to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to take down videos featuring children under 13 years old.