TikTok fined $7 million for unlawful user data collection
text_fields
Seoul: South Korea’s privacy watchdog on Thursday fined TikTok 10.3 billion won, or about $7 million, for unlawfully collecting and using users’ behavioural data from third-party services to personalize advertisements.
The Personal Information Protection Commission said the fine was imposed on Singapore-based TikTok Pte. Ltd., which operates the social media platform’s services in South Korea, for violating the country’s personal information law.
According to the commission, TikTok collected behavioural data from 9.45 million users in South Korea through tools distributed to third-party websites and applications, and used the information for personalized ads.
The watchdog said the company failed to properly inform users about the collection and use of such data.
Separately, the commission ordered corrective measures against two Apple subsidiaries and fined them a combined 252 million won for personal information violations, including collecting voice recordings and transcripts of Siri users without consent.
It said Apple collected voice recordings and text transcripts of Siri users without permission until August 2019, and while consent was later sought for recordings, it was not obtained for transcripts.
Last month, South Korea’s data protection regulator also imposed a record fine on e-commerce company Coupang Corp. over privacy violations, including a massive data breach affecting more than 37 million users.
(Inputs from IANS)