The U.S. Department of Justice is suing TikTok for allegedly letting kids under 13 make accounts without their parents’ permission and collecting “extensive data” on them, in violation of US child privacy law.
The DOJ claims that TikTok knowingly let kids onto its platform through its “Kids Mode,” collected their information, and failed to delete their accounts at their parents’ requests, in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). When a kid under 13 entered their age on the app, they’d be prompted to enter a username, which doesn’t contain personal information, and it would create a Kids Mode account for the user. But the app wouldn’t notify parents or get their consent. Kids can’t upload videos in that mode, but they can view videos; the DOJ alleges that TikTok collected some personal information on them as part of this process, like unique device identifiers and IP addresses.
The lawsuit alleges that TikTok’s age-gating techniques “are deficient in multiple ways.” Under an earlier practice, TikTok would let users restart the account creation process even if they’d originally entered a birthday showing they’re under 13, according to the complaint. TikTok also used to let users log in through Instagram or Google, which would categorize the accounts as “age unknown,” the DOJ alleges.
The difference is that an adult can consent to having their data collected by these companies, making the investigation and enforcement a more nuanced endeavor. A child cannot, so it all becomes far more straight forward and easier to go after the offending companies.