The social network TikTok, which started under the name Musical.ly, has become immensely popular in a short time. It is mainly used by children who dance in front of the smartphone camera. But that innocent association seems to be a thing of the past. The company is being accused and sued left and right. This is also the case in the Netherlands, with a claim of 2 billion euros. All about the TikTok claim.
TikTok has exploded in recent years, especially among a young target group that is so coveted by social networks. Short snack films, in which often dances are performed, grab the attention of many teenagers and young adults and hold them in an addictive way. For example, an immense amount of data can be tapped from these user groups and you have a lot of time and attention to serve these users with advertisements.
Only those who are data and ad-hungry are bound by rules. When your users form a vulnerable target group, such as young people, the rules are extra strict. You can already feel it coming: this is where the shoe pinches.
How many users does TikTok have?
Research by NewCom from early 2021 shows that TikTok is growing enormously. There are now 1.7 million Dutch users, of whom 836,000 visit the social network daily. The use of TikTok is growing rapidly, especially among children between the ages of 15 and 19, but people in their twenties are also increasingly finding the site and app. TikTok has already surpassed Facebook among these target groups.
american magnifying glass
TikTok has been under a magnifying glass for some time now. This is mainly due to the Chinese origin of parent company ByteDance and the espionage concerns that come with it. Social media, not just TikTok, has a disastrous reputation for collecting user data to capture users’ attention and serve them personalized ads. Data that the motherland undoubtedly also finds interesting and can claim, regardless of whether ByteDance has bad intentions with the data.
Moreover, it is not inconceivable that China exerts influence on the content of TikTok. A clip calling attention to the occupation and oppression of Hong Kong, Tibet, Taiwan and the Uyghur population will not go viral on TikTok anytime soon. Although of course these are not problems that live among the very young user base of the app.
In any case, the concerns were big enough for then-US President Trump to ban TikTok. First of all, by prohibiting government and defense employees from installing the app. Trump later demanded that the American branch of ByteDance be sold to an American company, so that the user data would not end up in China.
First of all, the estate to be sold was offered to Microsoft, which deal fell through. Then Oracle came into the picture, putting the negotiations on hold as Trump gave way to President Biden. During an interview at The Code Conference, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called the situation “the strangest project I’ve ever worked on.”
Of course TikTok was very interesting for Microsoft, but the circumstances were bizarre. The deadline for the sale was moved from November 12 to November 26, 2020, then December 4, and was finally let go. The sale of TikTok was no longer on the agenda after the US elections.
Privacy Concerns in Europe
In Europe there are also major concerns about TikTok, but without the circus. The social network is also under a magnifying glass for alleged data collection and multiple investigations are underway, both Europe-wide and in individual countries. On July 22, 2021, TikTok was fined 750,000 euros by the Dutch Data Protection Authority. This is because the conditions were drawn up in English and are therefore not easy to understand for everyone.
Especially because this concerns a young target group, TikTok is blamed and the fine was relatively high. The AP states: “Children are seen as an extra vulnerable group in the legislation. They are less aware of the consequences of their actions, especially in the processing of their personal data by social media. That is why children receive extra protection from the privacy law.” TikTok has been offering the conditions in Dutch since July.
The AP has handed over further investigations into TikTok to the Irish privacy authority, as the social network recently set up its European headquarters there. “We are now transferring several results of our investigation to the Irish Data Protection Authority. Initially TikTok did not have a head office in Europe and we were able to pick this up from the Netherlands, but during the investigation of the AP TikTok has definitively established itself in Ireland.”
mass claim
The judge is also busy with TikTok. In the meantime, a mass claim has been filed by the Consumers’ Association, which has gone to court with the Take Back Your Privacy foundation to recover damages of two billion euros from TikTok.
The foundation states: “TikTok pretends that children use the TikTok app for free. But its use is not free at all. TikTok turns ‘the user’ into the product. TikTok earns billions in profit every year from advertising sales. TikTok can sell those ads by using the children’s personal information that the company collects in violation of the law. Users are insufficiently, unclearly and incorrectly informed about how their personal data is captured. In addition, TikTok collects much more data than it needs to, without having a valid basis for doing so.”
Arnoud Engelfriet, ICT lawyer at ICTRecht explains how this claim works: “First of all, under the GDPR it is simply not allowed to allow people under the age of sixteen to use your social media service. TikTok has exercised zero control on this and added no restrictions or parental controls, which you can expect for children online right? In addition, it was not at all clear what TikTok did with data that the company collects from – vulnerable – children, such as advertising aimed at adolescents or perhaps influencing vulnerable minors by controlling algorithms.”
GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a much-discussed law that came into effect in May 2016 and has been enforced since May 2018. This law clearly states how organisations, be they companies, foundations, clubs or governments, should handle personal data. The fact that the law has a lot to do is shown, for example, by the fact that the Tax and Customs Administration does not expect to be able to comply with the rules until 2024.
Engelfriet: “The GDPR allows for a claim for damages and also for a collective such as the Consumers’ Association to do so on behalf of its supporters.” Yet such a collective claim is still rare.
“An important hurdle in the past was that for many years the law stated that collective organizations were not allowed to claim compensation on behalf of their supporters. That was a serious handicap for consumer claims, because they are only small per item and no person will litigate on his own. Furthermore, at TikTok it is of course true that as a child you are much more visible to others than with your searches or email at Google, for example.”
Engelfriet also emphasizes that ByteDance is not the only tech organization with a consumer claim. Facebook and Oracle may also have to pull the wallet.
2,000,000,000 euros
Obviously, the claim for damages is not the sole purpose of the plaintiffs. The collected data of minor children must also be deleted and it must be demonstrated that no more new data is collected. By means of the claim they want to force TikTok to stop acting illegally. Bytedance’s earnings from TikTok are huge, so it’s not surprising that the bets are high. However, it remains unclear where that amount of two billion euros in damage comes from.
Engelfriet: “I don’t think the amounts are concretely substantiated, but I think it is a good, deterrent amount that shows others that we online privacy for children seriously in the Netherlands.”
Chance of succeeding?
Engelfriet believes that the Consumers’ Association and Take Back Your Privacy have good opportunities for awarding a claim. “I think there is a good chance that they will win, although I have doubts about the final amount. There is simply no denying that TikTok is wrong, and I am very sorry that enforcement was not taken sooner.”
At TikTok itself, they have a different opinion. A spokesperson said: “The privacy and security of the TikTok community, especially our youngest members, are our highest priority. We have implemented extensive policies and controls to protect user data and rely on approved methods of data transfer from Europe, such as standard contractual clauses. We intend to fully cooperate with the DPC (Irish Data Protection Commission, ed.).”
The spokesperson also states that considerable efforts are being made to protect the younger target groups. “Privacy and security are top priorities for TikTok and we have strong policies, processes and technologies in place to help protect all users, especially our teenage users. We are partnering with experts and security organizations to support this work and have taken leading steps to promote the security of young people on TikTok, such as setting accounts of users under 16 to private by default and enabling parents to use their accounts. to that of their teen through Family Pairing.”
It is not yet known when the judge will rule on the case. At the time of writing, you can still sign up to participate in the claim on a ‘no cure no pay’ basis.
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