On Monday, the United Kingdom’s privacy watchdog announced that it’s investigating TikTok, Reddit, and Imgur because of privacy concerns about how they are processing children’s data.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) says it’s now looking into how TikTok uses children’s data to make recommendations that could lead to inappropriate or harmful content being added to their feeds.
Separate probes into Imgur and Reddit also investigate how they use personal information about UK children to assess their age.
“The investigations are part of our efforts to ensure companies are designing digital services that protect children. At this stage, we are investigating whether there have been any infringements of data protection legislation,” the ICO said.
“If we find there is sufficient evidence that any of these companies have broken the law, we will put this to them and obtain their representations before reaching a final conclusion.”
The privacy watchdog also fined TikTok £12.7 million ($15.9 million) in April 2023 for data protection law breaches, including using data belonging to children under 13 without parental consent. In 2020, TikTok allowed up to 1.4 million young UK children to use its platform despite its rules preventing them from creating accounts.
The ICO is currently examining potential violations of data protection laws to ensure that companies create digital services that protect children’s privacy. If it uncovers enough evidence of legal breaches by any of these companies, the ICO says it will work with them before making a final decision.
“My message is simple. If social media and video sharing platforms want to benefit from operating in the UK they must comply with data protection law,” said John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner.
“The responsibility to keep children safe online lies firmly at the door of the companies offering these services and my office is steadfast in its commitment to hold them to account.”
A recent study published by the ICO found that over 42% of British parents feel they have little or no control over the data video-sharing platforms and social media collect about their children.
BleepingComputer contacted TikTok, Reddit, and Imgur for comments but did not hear back before publishing.