TikTok fined €530 million by EU regulator for sending user data to China

TikTok has been fined €530 million after a four-year investigation revealed that the platform breached EU data privacy laws by transferring user data to China without adequate safeguards. The Data Protection Commission of Ireland, responsible for overseeing TikTok’s compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, found that TikTok was not transparent about user data. The regulator has given TikTok six months to align its operations with the regulation.

Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle stated that TikTok did not ensure that European users’ personal data accessed by staff in China received a level of protection equivalent to EU standards. TikTok intends to appeal the decision, emphasizing its data localization project, Project Clover, which includes strong data protections and oversight by a European cybersecurity firm.

TikTok’s European head of public policy and government relations, Christine Grahn, clarified that the company has never shared European user data with the Chinese government and has not received any such requests. The investigation found that TikTok’s privacy policy did not disclose the transfer of data to countries like China.

The Irish regulator criticized TikTok for allegedly providing inaccurate information during the inquiry, including claims that European data was not stored on Chinese servers.