TikTok may face a £27m fine for a possible breach of UK data protection law by failing to protect children’s privacy on the platform.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued the popular video platform with a provisional notice of intent, signalling the warning before a potential fine.

Between 2018 and 2020, it says TikTok may have processed data belonging to children under the age of 13 – without parental consent, or the necessary legal grounds.

The ICO states that the platform failed to give the required information to its users in a concise, transparent and easily understandable way.

Information commissioner John Edwards said: “We all want children to be able to learn and experience the digital world, but with proper data privacy protections.

“Companies providing digital services have a legal duty to put those protections in place, but our provisional view is that TikTok fell short of meeting that requirement.

“I’ve been clear that our work to better protect children online involves working with organisations but will also involve enforcement action where necessary.”

WhatsApp hit with record €225m fine for breaching EU privacy regulations

COVID-19: Vaccine may be less effective against South Africa variant, study finds

Google and Facebook could be fined billions under new law

Mr Edwards also revealed the ICO has a total of six investigations under way into firms providing digital services which have not “taken their responsibilities around child safety seriously enough”.

The Children’s Code was introduced in September 2021, putting in place new data protection codes of practice for online services likely to be used by children.

The code is built on existing data protection laws and includes financial penalties for serious breaches.

The ICO is yet to reach a conclusion on its findings and is ready to “carefully consider any representations” from TikTok before making a final decision.

A TikTok spokesperson said: “While we respect the ICO’s role in safeguarding privacy in the UK, we disagree with the preliminary views expressed and intend to formally respond to the ICO in due course.”

Related posts:

AirTags lead the line up of new products at first Apple event of 2021 Tesla Bots may be the latest in a long line of Elon Musk claims that haven’t come to fruition Expedition crew believe they’ve accidentally discovered world’s northernmost island Avocados, ice cream and a robotic arm on their way to International Space Station Could eFootball be the game to knock FIFA off its perch? China announces complete ban on cryptocurrencies Cyber attack on UK’s Defence Academy had ‘significant’ impact Apple becomes world’s first $3 trillion company Government to announce data reform bill in Queen’s Speech to deliver ‘Brexit dividend’ UK government hackers destroyed hundreds of thousands of stolen credit cards Why a day of hard thinking is so exhausting UK launches legal action against EU for ‘persistent delays’ over scientific research access