FTC and DOJ File Lawsuit Against TikTok for Violating Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a lawsuit against popular video-sharing platform TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, alleging violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The complaint accuses TikTok of failing to notify and obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under the age of 13.

According to the FTC, ByteDance and TikTok were aware of their obligations under COPPA but knowingly allowed millions of children under 13 to use the platform designated for users 13 and older. Despite changing its policy to no longer require an explicit admission of age, TikTok allegedly continued to collect personal data from underage users without parental consent, including information used to target advertising to them.

The complaint also alleges that TikTok built back doors into its platform that allowed children to bypass age restrictions by using credentials from third-party services. Even when children were directed to use the more protected Kids Mode service, TikTok allegedly collected and used their personal information without proper consent.

Additionally, the complaint claims that TikTok made it difficult for parents to delete their child’s account and imposed unnecessary hurdles for data deletion requests. The company allegedly violated the terms of a 2019 FTC order shortly after it went into effect, which settled previous allegations of COPPA violations.

The FTC is seeking civil penalties against ByteDance and TikTok, as well as a permanent injunction to prevent future violations of COPPA. The FTC Act allows penalties of up to $51,744 per violation, per day.