The CNIL fined TikTok up to 5 million euros in a decision of December 29, 2022 published by the regulator on Thursday January 12. This is the regulator’s first sanction against the Chinese social network, already in the crosshairs of American and European regulators.
After investigations carried out on the TikTok website, the CNIL considered that the companies TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited (United Kingdom) and TikTok Technology Limited (Ireland) had breached their obligations in terms of cookies.
No button was clearly placed on the site to allow Internet users to refuse the deposit of cookies. In addition, TikTok was careful not to clearly explain the purposes of cookies to users. The CNIL has identified these shortcomings both at the level of the information banner at the first level and within the framework of the choice interface accessible after clicking on a link.
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The restricted CNIL panel concluded that “making the refusal mechanism more complex actually amounts to discouraging users from refusing cookies and encouraging them to favor the ease of the “Accept all” button”.
Since TikTok’s popularity skyrocketed in 2020, there have been concerns about the mental health of its users, especially younger ones.
Across the Atlantic, TikTok is in bad shape. Privacy concerns prompted U.S. lawmakers last month to craft a bill to prevent data sharing with China, the home of ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.
In Europe, the authorities have also expressed their criticism of the social network. TikTok is notably the subject of an investigation in Ireland. The Data Protection Commission, the Irish equivalent of the CNIL, launched two investigations in September 2021 into the transfer of user data to China and the exploitation of the personal data of its underage users.
The European Commission is also putting pressure on the Chinese social network. Later this week, the CEO of TikTok was received by members of the commission about the DSA and the DMA, reports The echoes.