Tic Tac Toe is investigating whether there are rules that violate children’s privacy – diversity

The U.S. Department of Applications and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are investigating whether popular app Tiktok failed to comply with the 2019 agreement to protect the privacy of children.

In May, advocacy groups, including the commercial-free Childhood Campaign, asked the FTC to investigate whether Tiktok failed to delete video and personal data from users aged 13 and under, as it said it would do so in February 2019, among others. Of violation.

Two sources recently told Reuters that they had called for a separate conference to discuss the matter with the FTC and the judiciary.

“From our conversations, I understand that they are examining the impetus they have raised in our allegations,” said David Monahan, a campaign manager for the group.

The FTC enacted the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, which requires websites and applications to obtain parental permission to collect data on children under the age of 13 and calls on online services to prevent such data from entering the hands of third parties. Earlier last year, Tiktok paid $ 5.7 million in fines for collecting baby names, phone numbers, email addresses and photos.

A spokesman for TickTock said they take security for all of our users seriously and give children under the age of 13 “a limited application experience that introduces additional protection and privacy protection specifically designed for a younger audience.”

In May, the Netherlands’ privacy regulator also said it was investigating the handling of the country’s juvenile data in Tiktok.

TickTock’s first-quarter downloads increased by 315 million, making it Q1’s third-most-installed app worldwide. It now boasts about 2.2 billion users worldwide, according to research firm Sensor Tower. About 60% of American users are between the ages of 16 and 24.

In addition to investigating juvenile data handling, the Beijing-based parent company has also reacted abroad due to its relationship with China through Bytens.

Last week, citing cyber security concerns, Indian authorities banned Tiktok and about 60 Chinese mobile apps amid violent border disputes with China.

In Australia, the chairman of the Legislative Committee investigating foreign interference through social media told a local radio station on Monday that tic tac toe testing could be one of the platforms.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said Monday that the Trump administration is “definitely watching” the ticket ban. He urged Americans not to download the app unless they want “personal information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Meanwhile, Tiktok has suddenly completely overtaken Hong Kong in the wake of a controversial national security law imposed by Beijing, a move analysts see as part of an effort to distance itself further from China. ByteDance is also considering changing the corporate structure of Tikitok, with senior executives considering steps such as setting up a new Tiktok board of directors or global headquarters outside China, the Wall Street Journal said Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Bytens, one of the world’s most valuable technology unicorns, does not currently have a worldwide headquarters, although its new CEO, former Disney executive Kevin Mayer, has worked outside of Los Angeles.

On Thursday, TikTock released a transparency report for the second half of 2019 stating that during this period the app removed more than 49 million videos worldwide for violating its Community Guidelines or Terms of Service, making up less than 1% of the total videos. 89.4% of the removers were removed before they received any feedback.

India topped the rankings with the most video removal, followed by 16.5 million deleted, followed by the United States (4.6 million removed), Pakistan (3. million million), the United States (2 million) and Russia (1.3 million). ) Contains.

The agency received 100 data requests from U.S. authorities in the second half of last year, and 82% of them agreed, it says.

Transparency reports do not include data from China or Hong Kong.