In Europe, TikTok’s collection of children’s private data is under heavy scrutiny by EU watchdogs. The Data-protection heads in June created a task force amid plans to coordinate an investigation into “TikTok’s processing and practices.” In a statement, TikTok said, “Privacy and safety are top priorities for TikTok and we have robust policies, processes and technologies in place to protect all users, and our younger users in particular.”
Because TikTok’s parent company is Chinese firm ByteDance, there are already questions in the U.S. over what happens to the personal data belonging to TikTok customers who sign up for the app. The current U.S. administration acts as though all Chinese companies steal data from American firms and consumers and send it to the Communist Chinese government in Beijing. This scenario has never been proven by the U.S.
As of the end of last quarter, the app has been installed from the App Store and the Google Play Store over two billion times with more than 800 million active users.
