TikTok has been accused of violating children’s privacy rules

TikTok is accused of collecting children’s data in several complaints.

A group of 20 consumer and child advocacy groups had filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday. TikTok had been accused of breaking the previous settlement the company reached with the FTC not to get the personal data of minors aged below thirteen without their parents’ consent.

A settlement was made last year as TikTok admitted had broken collected the private data of youngsters under-13s. The settlement was made with a $5.7 million penalty and TikTok pledged not to use any information without parents’ consent. It also pledged to delete the existing data.

However, the groups claimed that TikTok has not fulfilled the promise and has not deleted the information.

The groups said, “We found that TikTok currently has many regular account holders who are under age 13, and many of them still have videos of themselves that were uploaded as far back as 2016, years prior to the consent decree,”

“TikTok has not obtained parental consent for these accounts. Contrary to the terms of the consent decree, TikTok fails to make reasonable efforts to ensure that a parent of a child receives direct notice of its practices regarding the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information.”

The groups appealed to FTC to begin investigating TikTok. They also asked to “impose additional penalties and safeguards to ensure that children’s privacy is protected.”

However, TikTok spokesperson told the international news source, “We take privacy seriously and are committed to helping ensure that TikTok continues to be a safe and entertaining community for our users.”