The National Data Protection Agency (ANPD) of Brazil has imposed a fine of 153.7 million reais (25.6 million euros) on Bytedance, the parent company of the Chinese social network TikTok, for failing to comply with security guarantees regarding the personal information of children and adolescents.
In a statement released this Tuesday, the regulatory body details that the sanctioning resolution has been made public in the "Diário Oficial da União," where the order for the company to delete all data collected "irregularly" is also listed. Furthermore, the company must design and implement a specific plan to strengthen the protection of underage users.
The ANPD specifies that the detected violations occurred both when minors accessed TikTok with created accounts and when they used the platform without registering. According to the regulator, the technical and organizational measures applied by the multinational did not meet the level required by Brazilian data protection legislation.
From now on, TikTok will be prohibited from showing advertisements to unregistered users located in Brazil and will be required to disable live broadcasts and private messages for them, in addition to significantly reducing the volume of personal data it collects. Temporary restrictions on usage time will also be introduced.
The ANPD has greenlit the compliance plan presented by Bytedance, while requiring it to adjust to the new age verification rules included in the Digital Statute of Childhood and Adolescence of Brazil.
In this context, Bytedance will apply the strictest privacy settings by default to accounts of users under 16 years old, so that any modification must have the authorization of the parents. The platform will also have to strengthen its control mechanisms and incorporate more rigorous content filters.