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Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
TikTok appeals DPC's €530m fine for improper data transfer, and takes Commission to the High Court
It is the latest legal attempt by Big Tech to overturn penalties imposed by the Irish privacy regulator. Of the more than €4bn in fines levied on companies including Meta and Amazon, only €20m has been paid so far. The other penalties are being challenged in the Irish courts. There is no date set for any of the hearings, as a decision is awaited from the European Court of Justice on a key legal point. The latest legal challenge, in which TikTok is being represented by Mason Hayes & Curran, relates to a DPC decision earlier this month to penalise the social network over improper data transfers from Ireland and the EU to China. 'TikTok failed to verify, guarantee and demonstrate that the personal data of European Economic Area (EEA) users, remotely accessed by staff in China, was afforded a level of protection essentially equivalent to that guaranteed within the EU,' DPC deputy commissioner Graham Doyle said at the time. 'As a result of TikTok's failure to undertake the necessary assessments, TikTok did not address potential access by Chinese authorities to EEA personal data under Chinese anti-terrorism, counter-espionage and other laws identified by TikTok as materially diverging from EU standards.' We believe the EU should welcome and support solutions like Project Clover As well as the fine, TikTok was ordered to bring its processing into compliance within six months. In a further 'serious development', the DPC noted that, throughout its inquiry, TikTok had said it did not store EEA user data on servers in China. However, in April it told the regulator that, two months earlier, it discovered that 'limited' data had in fact been stored on Chinese servers. 'TikTok informed the DPC that this discovery meant it had provided inaccurate information to the inquiry,' the regulator pointed out. The DPC is currently engaging with other European data regulators on that issue. After the DPC announced the fine, TikTok said it disagreed with the decision and planned to appeal it in full. Christine Grahn, its head of public policy and government relations in Europe, claimed the decision failed to fully consider Project Clover, its €12bn industry-leading data security initiative that includes some of the most stringent data protections anywhere. 'It instead focuses on a select period from years ago, prior to Clover's 2023 implementation, and does not reflect the safeguards now in place,' she said. ADVERTISEMENT 'The DPC itself recorded in its report what TikTok has consistently said: it has never received a request for European user data from the Chinese authorities, and has never provided European user data to them.' Ms Grahn said that with 175 million users in Europe, more than 6,000 employees, and a platform that has helped small businesses contribute €4.8bn to GDP and over 51,000 jobs, TikTok was deeply integrated into Europe's economy. TikTok also claimed the penalty delivered a blow to the EU's competitiveness. 'At a time when European businesses and economies need innovation, growth and jobs, we believe the EU should welcome and support solutions like Project Clover, as a way to facilitate secure data flows between the EU and non-adequate countries, while guaranteeing the most robust protections for European data security and privacy.'
LBCI
02-05-2025
- Business
- LBCI
TikTok rejects China data allegations, vows EU appeal
TikTok on Friday said it planned to appeal a fine of 530 million euros ($600 million) from Ireland's data protection watchdog, insisting it had "never received a request" from Chinese authorities for European users' data. "(TikTok) has never provided European user data to them," Christine Grahn of TikTok Europe said. "We disagree with this decision and intend to appeal it in full." AFP
Business Insider
02-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
TikTok fined $600 million over data transfers to China
European regulators have fined TikTok $600 million after concluding that the social media giant unlawfully transferred users' personal data from the EU to China and failed to meet key transparency obligations under European data privacy laws. Ireland's Data Protection Commission, which acts as the lead EU watchdog for many global tech firms headquartered in Dublin, led the investigation. It said TikTok failed to ensure that data accessed by employees in China was protected at a level "essentially equivalent" to EU standards, as required under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Regulators also said the company misled users by failing to name China as a data destination and not disclosing the extent of remote access from countries like China, breaching GDPR's transparency rules. "As a result of TikTok's failure to undertake the necessary assessments, TikTok did not address potential access by Chinese authorities to EEA personal data under Chinese anti-terrorism, counter-espionage, and other laws identified by TikTok as materially diverging from EU standards," Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said. The $600 million penalty includes about $550 million for unlawful data transfers and about $50 million for transparency violations. The penalty is the third-largest ever under the GDPR and part of a growing European scrutiny targeting Big Tech's data practices. TikTok may face a suspension of data transfers to China if it doesn't comply within six months. Last month, TikTok acknowledged that limited European user data had been stored on servers in China, contrary to previous claims, and that it has since been deleted. However, in a statement on Friday, the social media giant said it disagreed with the decision and plans to appeal. Christine Grahn, TikTok's head of public policy and government relations, said the ruling overlooks significant reforms introduced under its "Project Clover" data security initiative. She added that TikTok has never received or complied with a request for European user data from Chinese authorities. This isn't TikTok's first major penalty. In 2023, Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined it $368 million for failing to protect children's data. That same year, Meta was fined $1.3 billion over concerns that Facebook data transferred to the US could be used to spy on European citizens in violation of the EU's privacy laws.
The Hindu
02-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
TikTok hit with 530 million euro privacy fine in investigation into China data transfer
European Union privacy watchdogs fined TikTok 530 million euros ($600 million) on Friday after a four-year investigation found that the video sharing app's data transfers to China breached the EU's strict data privacy rules. Ireland's Data Protection Commission also sanctioned TikTok for not being transparent with users about where their personal data was being sent and ordered the company to comply with the rules within six months. Also Read | TikTok is hit with $368 million fine under Europe's strict data privacy rules The Irish national watchdog serves as TikTok's lead data privacy regulator in the 27-nation EU because the company's European headquarters is based in Dublin. 'TikTok failed to verify, guarantee and demonstrate that the personal data of (European) users, remotely accessed by staff in China, was afforded a level of protection essentially equivalent to that guaranteed within the EU,' Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said in a statement. TikTok said it disagreed with the decision and plans to appeal. The company said in a blog post that the decision focuses on a 'select period' ending in May 2023, before it embarked on a data localization project called Project Clover that involved building three data centers in Europe. 'The facts are that Project Clover has some of the most stringent data protections anywhere in the industry, including unprecedented independent oversight by NCC Group, a leading European cybersecurity firm," said Christine Grahn, TikTok's European head of public policy and government relations. 'The decision fails to fully consider these considerable data security measures.' TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is based in China, has been under scrutiny in Europe over how it handles personal information of its users amid concerns from Western officials that it poses a security risk over user data sent to China. In 2023, the watchdog fined the company hundreds of millions of euros in a separate child privacy investigation. The Irish watchdog said its investigation found that TikTok failed to address 'potential access by Chinese authorities' to European users' personal data under Chinese laws on anti-terrorism, counter-espionage, cybersecurity and national intelligence that were identified as 'materially diverging' from EU standards.' Grahn said TikTok has 'has never received a request for European user data from the Chinese authorities, and has never provided European user data to them.' Under the EU rules, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, European user data can only be transferred outside of the bloc if there are safeguards in place to ensure the same level of protection. The investigation, which opened in September 2021, also found that TikTok's privacy policy at the time did not name third countries, including China, where user data was transferred. The watchdog said the policy, which has since been updated, failed to explain that data processing involved 'remote access to personal data stored in Singapore and the United States by personnel based in China.' TikTok faces further scrutiny from the Irish regulator, which said that the company had provided inaccurate information to throughout the inquiry by saying that it didn't store European user data on Chinese servers. It wasn't until April that it informed the regulator that it discovered in February that some data had in fact been stored on Chinese servers. Doyle said that the watchdog is taking the recent developments 'very seriously" and 'considering what further regulatory action may be warranted.'
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
TikTok slapped fined $600 million over data transfers to China
EU regulators hit TikTok with a $600 million fine for unlawful data transfers to China. They said TikTok failed to ensure EU-level data protection under Chinese law. The social media giant said on Friday that it disagreed with the fine and planned to appeal. European regulators have fined TikTok $600 million after concluding that the social media giant unlawfully transferred users' personal data from the EU to China and failed to meet key transparency obligations under European data privacy laws. Ireland's Data Protection Commission, which acts as the lead EU watchdog for many global tech firms headquartered in Dublin, led the investigation. It said TikTok failed to ensure that data accessed by employees in China was protected at a level "essentially equivalent" to EU standards, as required under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Regulators also said the company misled users by failing to name China as a data destination and not disclosing the extent of remote access from countries like China, breaching GDPR's transparency rules. "As a result of TikTok's failure to undertake the necessary assessments, TikTok did not address potential access by Chinese authorities to EEA personal data under Chinese anti-terrorism, counter-espionage, and other laws identified by TikTok as materially diverging from EU standards," Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said. The $600 million penalty includes about $550 million for unlawful data transfers and about $50 million for transparency violations. The penalty is the third-largest ever under the GDPR and part of a growing European scrutiny targeting Big Tech's data practices. TikTok may face a suspension of data transfers to China if it doesn't comply within six months. Last month, TikTok acknowledged that limited European user data had been stored on servers in China, contrary to previous claims, and that it has since been deleted. However, in a statement on Friday, the social media giant said it disagreed with the decision and plans to appeal. Christine Grahn, TikTok's head of public policy and government relations, said the ruling overlooks significant reforms introduced under its "Project Clover" data security initiative. She added that TikTok has never received or complied with a request for European user data from Chinese authorities. This isn't TikTok's first major penalty. In 2023, Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined it $368 million for failing to protect children's data. That same year, Meta was fined $1.3 billion over concerns that Facebook data transferred to the US could be used to spy on European citizens in violation of the EU's privacy laws. Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
