Class Action Lawsuit Claims TikTok Knowingly Collected, Exploited Data of Millions of Underage Users

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A proposed class action lawsuit accuses the operators of TikTok of knowingly allowing millions of children under 13 to create accounts on the social media platform before then harvesting and exploiting their personal data without parental consent.

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The 64-page TikTok lawsuit alleges the social media giant has unlawfully collected “intimate, deeply intrusive” information about underage users without their parents’ knowledge or consent. This sensitive data allows TikTok to provide curated content that will drive children’s engagement on the app and allow the defendants to continually exploit the personal data for advertising purposes, the suit says.

According to the case, TikTok publicly represents that minors are not permitted to access the adult version of the app, and purports to require new users to input their birthdate when creating an account. If a user reports that they are under the age of 13, they are given access to Kids Mode, a version of the TikTok app which allows the minor to view videos but not upload content, post information or message other people, the complaint explains.

Despite the foregoing, the filing contends that TikTok has consistently allowed children under 13 to bypass this “particularly flimsy age-gate” and has knowingly continued to harvest and share vast amounts of their personal data with Facebook and other third-party advertisers.

As the class action lawsuit tells it, the platform collects and discloses information that includes the details of any content an underage user creates; data about their device; their location; what accounts they follow; their comments; what videos they view, share or “like,” and more.

TikTok, whose user base the case says is “disproportionately made up of children,” has also failed to comply with parents’ requests to delete their kids’ accounts and all associated private data, the suit alleges. When a parent seeks to have their child’s account and information terminated, they are forced to navigate a “byzantine process” to log the request at all, the filing says.

The platform then often rejects these requests thanks to “self-serving policies” implemented to prevent the deletion of the data, the complaint adds.

The filing claims that TikTok’s conduct is a violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law which protects children under the age of 13 from having their personal information collected by websites or online services directed at kids without parental consent.

“[TikTok] engaged in this unlawful behavior for one reason—profit,” the privacy lawsuit charges.

The suit shares that in March 2019, TikTok was ordered by the United States to cease its allegedly illegal collection and use of children’s private data and was forced to pay the Federal Trade Commission a $5.7 million civil penalty. According to the case, the Department of Justice last month filed a new complaint against the social media platform over its “continued violations” of COPPA and its failure to abide by the terms of the March 2019 court order.

The TikTok underage user lawsuit looks to represent any California, Connecticut or Florida residents who were 13 or younger when they used TikTok, and from whom the defendants collected, caused to be collected, used or disclosed personal information without first obtaining verified parental consent at any time since March 1, 2019.

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