The TikTok logo hangs at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona in February of 2023. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Irish law enforcement announced Thursday that it’s looking back at TikTok for taking personal data from users around the European Economic Area and transferred it to China.
The Data Protection Commission has opened a fresh inquiry as a follow-up to a decision it made in April in regard to the same issue after TikTok allegedly admitted to actually committing the offense in question.
TikTok told the DPC back in April that any transfers of EEA users’ personal data to China was achieved via remote access and that user data was not being stored on servers located within China, rather it was kept outside of China and then accessed remotely by TikTok staffers in China.
However, the DPC said Thursday that TikTok has since admitted that it has stored users’ data inside the Chinese border and said in a press release that it has “deep concern that TikTok had submitted inaccurate information to that inquiry.”
The DPC is now working out what regulatory action to take, and after consulting with the EU has opened this added version of its original investigation.
The DPC did fine TikTok over $600 million for the data storage issue in April. It is unclear what if any, fines or penalties TikTok may face as a result of this second investigation.
