US sues TikTok for collecting children’s data without parental permission

The Department of Justice is suing TikTok for allegedly allowing children under 13 to create accounts without their parents’ permission and collecting “extensive data” about them, in violation of US children’s privacy law.

The DOJ claims that TikTok knowingly allowed children onto its platform through “Kids Mode,” collected their information, and failed to delete their accounts at their parents’ request, in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). When a child under 13 entered their age into the app, they would be prompted to enter a username, which does not contain personal information, and a Kids Mode account would be created for the user. But the app did not notify parents or obtain their consent. Children cannot upload videos in this mode, but they can view them; the DOJ alleges that TikTok collected some personal information about them as part of this process, such as unique device identifiers and IP addresses.

The lawsuit alleges that TikTok’s age restriction techniques “are deficient in several respects.” Under previous practice, TikTok would allow users to restart the account creation process even if they had originally entered a birthday showing they are under 13, according to the complaint. TikTok also allowed users to log in through Instagram or Google, which would categorize accounts as “age unknown,” the DOJ alleges.

The DOJ claims TikTok allowed millions of children to use its platform, but said it is difficult to determine the exact scale of its violations because it failed to comply with a 2019 injunction’s requirement to keep records about its compliance with COPPA. The DOJ is asking the court to prevent TikTok from violating COPPA in the future and to pay civil penalties for each violation. Under the FTC Act, civil penalties can be up to $51,744 per violation, per day.

The Federal Trade Commission was credited with the investigation that led to the complaint. The agency announced in June that it forwarded a complaint against TikTok to the DOJ following an investigation into possible violations of the FTC Act and COPPA. At the time, the FTC said it “found reason to believe” that TikTok was “violating or about to violate the law.”

TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said in a statement that the company disagrees with the DOJ’s assertions, “many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed. We are proud of our efforts to protect children and will continue to update and improve the platform. To that end, we provide age-appropriate experiences with strict safeguards, proactively remove users suspected of being minors, and voluntarily roll out features like default screen time limits, family pairing, and additional privacy protections for minors.”