EU regulators enforce $600 million fine on Tik Tok for privacy data concerns

TikTok, the popular short-video platform owned by China’s ByteDance, has been hit with a 530 million euros ($600 million) fine by its lead European Union (EU) privacy regulator.

The regulator raised concerns over how the company safeguards user information and demanded a halt on data transfers to China unless its processing aligns with compliance standards within six months.

The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) in Ireland stated that TikTok failed to demonstrate that the personal data of EU users, some of which is remotely accessed by staff in China, was given the high level of protection required under EU law.

The platform did not adequately address the potential access by Chinese authorities to the data under certain laws identified by TikTok as significantly different from EU standards, according to a statement from the DPC.

TikTok has expressed strong disagreement with the finding. The company stated that it has utilized the EU’s own legal framework, specifically standard contractual clauses, to permit tightly controlled and limited remote access. It intends to appeal the ruling.

TikTok also claimed that the decision does not fully acknowledge data security measures it first implemented in 2023. These measures independently oversee remote access and ensure that EU user data is stored in dedicated data centers in Europe and the United States.