The agencies allege TikTok collected personal data from children without parental consent, breaching COPPA.
The Department of Justice, on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), filed a lawsuit against TikTok, its parent company ByteDance, and affiliated companies, alleging violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The complaint accused the defendants of failing to obtain parental consent before collecting personal data from children under 13, breaching a 2019 consent order with the FTC. The lawsuit claims that TikTok continued to gather data from children without parental permission and allegedly used this information for ad targeting.
“TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids’ privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country. The FTC will continue to use the full scope of its authorities to protect children online,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan.
The complaint further alleged that TikTok made it difficult for parents to delete their children’s data and often did not comply with deletion requests. The suit seeks civil penalties against ByteDance and TikTok and a permanent injunction to prevent future COPPA violations.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Chair Khan and FTC commissioners as they seek to protect children’s online privacy.
- For Justice Department officials as they endeavor to enforce U.S. laws against foreign actors and companies.
Sources: Federal Trade Commission
