Lawsuit filed against TikTok for violating children's privacy

The Take Back Your Privacy Foundation (TBYP) and the Consumers' Association are suing the company behind the popular app TikTok for violating the privacy and consumer rights of children. The two already sent the company a damage claim of 1.5 billion euros at the end of June. Talks with TikTok followed, but they came to nothing, according to TBYP and the Consumers' Association.

According to a spokeswoman of the Consumers' Association, the organizations are now demanding compensation of 2 billion euros after a more extensive calculation."So that every child who has been a victim gets a fixed amount." In addition, they believe that the popular app should pay them the profits it earned "on the backs of Dutch children". TikTok must also "stop its unlawful acts and delete all illegally collected personal data."

According to Sandra Molenaar, director of the Consumers' Association, TikTok "outrageously abused children, some very young". They were misled, their privacy was invaded, and huge profits were made off their backs. "Pure exploitation, which must be compensated."

The action by TBYP and the Consumers' Association is supported by, among others, the European consumer organization BEUC, Terre des Hommes, Platform Protection Civil Rights, and Bits of Freedom.

At the end of July it was announced that TikTok has to pay a fine of 750,000 euros. The Dutch Data Protection Authority, the government's privacy watchdog, concluded that the app violated the privacy of Dutch children.