(VOR News) – In a letter that was distributed on Monday, the data watchdog in the United Kingdom said that it had initiated an investigation into TikTok.
Concerns were raised in the notification over the manner in which the platform is using the data of children for its own purposes. The assertion that the investigation had reached its conclusion was included in the statement along with the other allegations.
An investigation is currently being carried out in accordance with the announcement that was made by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
The purpose of this investigation is to investigate the manner in which the well-known video-sharing platform uses the personal information of children in the United Kingdom who are between the ages of 13 and 17 in order to make recommendations and distribute content that is TikTok recommended to the feeds.
The manner in which the platform makes use of the data is currently the subject of an inquiry that is currently being carried out. Children ranging in age from thirteen to seventeen years old are included below, demonstrating a wide range of ages that are represented in this collection.
Most are of the same age, and TikTok accounts for a large chunk of that.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) stated yesterday that there are growing concerns about social media and video-sharing platforms using data from children’s online activities in their recommendation systems, which could expose young users to inappropriate or harmful content.
“Given that this may ultimately expose young individuals to harmful or inappropriate content.”This is due to growing concerns regarding the usage of various communication platforms, which led the release of this statement.
Additionally, the methods that are being researched include the ways in which children’s personal information is employed by Reddit, an online forum, and TikTok Imgur, a website that enables users to submit images, as well as the methods by which their ages are confirmed.
Both of these websites are being investigated. There is now an investigation being conducted into the two websites in question. On each and every one of these websites, the investigation is currently being carried out.
Users who have formed individual accounts on each of these websites are able to receive images that can be uploaded to those accounts. These photographs can be submitted to accounts.
Furthermore, we are particularly pleased about the technological and creative advancements that companies such as social media bring to the United Kingdom, and we have high hopes that these TikTok companies will continue to grow in our economy for a great deal of time to come.
On the other hand, John Edwards, who is the Information Commissioner for the United Kingdom, is of the opinion that this method simply cannot be applied so long as it is deemed to violate the privacy of children and teenagers. He believes that this is the case because it is a violation of the right to privacy.
Following his presentation, he made the following statement:
“My message is straightforward: in order for social media and video-sharing platforms to reap the benefits of carrying out their operations in the United Kingdom, they are required to comply with data protection laws.”
He said: “My message is straightforward.”
TikTok was fined a fine of sixteen million dollars by the Information Commissioner’s Office in the year 2020 as a consequence of illegally processing the data of minors and allowing up to 1.4 million children under the age of thirteen to access the website in the United Kingdom.
This was done in violation of the law. The happenings that took place in the year 2020 prompted the adoption of this penalty as a response to those unfortunate events. In order to provide further information, TikTok allowed these children to utilise the website, which is the reason why the cost was determined to be necessary.
It is thought that the entire amount of cash associated with the transaction was somewhere in the neighbourhood of sixteen million livres.
SOURCE: NN
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