Amsterdam court will move forward with €2 billion privacy lawsuit against TikTok

A Dutch civil claim case against the popular video app, TikTok, will proceed, an Amsterdam court ruled on Wednesday. The total claim amounts to about 2 billion euros. The court determined that it does have the jurisdiction to rule on plaintiffs' complaint that the social media company violates the privacy and consumer rights of children, handing an early victory to Dutch data privacy foundation, Take Back Your Privacy (TBYP), and consumer rights group Consumentenbond.

The Dutch groups claim TikTok violates the privacy of more than 1.5 million children because the company collects a wide variety of data from the app's users. They demand that TikTok put an end to the practice.

They also believe that the illegally obtained personal data of children must be destroyed. They are demanding that TikTok should pay at least 1,000 euros in compensation per child.

TikTok argued that the judge in the Netherlands has no right to rule on the case at all, because the Chinese company is not located in the Netherlands. The court rejected that defense on Wednesday. A request from TikTok to stay the case was also rejected. That decision will allow the procedure to continue.

A spokesperson for the Consumentenbond estimated that it could take until 2024 before the case is brought to trial. First, the claimants in the case still have to be declared admissible. An exclusive representative must also be appointed. This is expected to happen sometime in 2023.