Chinese-owned video sharing TikTok app to pay US$5.7 million fine to settle US charges it illegally gathered children’s data

The fast-growing, Chinese-owned video sharing network TikTok agreed to pay a US$5.7 million fine to US authorities to settle charges that it illegally collected personal information from children, officials said on Wednesday.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said the penalty by the social network, which had been known as Musical.ly, was the largest in a children’s privacy investigation.

The social network, which has been surging in popularity with young smartphone users and taking over from rivals like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, failed to obtain parental consent from its underage users as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), FTC officials said.

“The operators of Musical.ly – now known as TikTok – knew many children were using the app but they still failed to seek parental consent before collecting names, email addresses and other personal information from users under the age of 13,” said FTC chairman Joe Simons.

“This record penalty should be a reminder to all online services and websites that target children: We take enforcement of COPPA very seriously, and we will not tolerate companies that flagrantly ignore the law.”

TikTok claimed some 500 million users worldwide last year, making it one of the most popular worldwide apps.