Drastic measure by the Privacy Guarantor: TikTok blocked for users whose age cannot be established with certainty.
After the dramatic case of the child who died in Palermo as a result of a "TikTok Challenge", the Italian Privacy Guarantor intervenes heavily with an urgent measure clear and clear: immediate blocking of the use of user data for which the age has not been established with certainty.
That TikTok was under the magnifying glass of the Italian Guarantor was already known for some time and the Authority for the Protection of Personal Data already in December had challenged several violations of the Chinese platform: "little attention to the protection of minors, ease with which it is possible to circumvent the prohibition, provided by the same platform, to register for minors under 13 years, little transparency and clarity in the information made available to users, use of default settings not respectful of privacy. In particular, the prohibition to register if you are not at least 13 years old was evidently evaded by the 10 year old girl who was the victim of the challenge, a sign that TikTok does not have a real and effective control of the age of its users.
What the Guarantor decided
The measure of the Guarantor for Privacy has immediate value, but limited in time until February 15. In the text of the measure we read that "pursuant to art. 58, par. 2, lett. f) and 66, par. 1 of the Regulation, TikTok has decided to temporarily limit the processing of its data, forbidding the further processing of the data of the users who are on the Italian territory and for whom there is no absolute certainty of their age and, consequently, of the respect of the provisions related to the age requirement".
TikTok has not yet received any official answer to the measure of the Italian Guarantor.