MILAN: TikTok suspended changes to its privacy policy for targeted advertising on Tuesday, a day before they went into effect, while the major EU regulator studies whether they comply with the bloc’s data protection rules.
Italy’s data protection authority sounded an early alarm, saying Chinese-owned TikTok had told users of the video app that it had been able to access data stored on their devices since July 13 without requesting consent. Going to deliver targeted advertising.
The Italian watchdog had informed Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) about TikTok’s potential breaches of EU data rules. The Irish body is the EU’s principal regulator for TikTok and other major internet businesses.
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“For further engagement with the DPC tomorrow (July 11), TikTok has now agreed to halt the application of changes to allow the DPC to conduct its analysis,” the DPC said in a statement.
It said it had taken up the matter with all other data supervisory authorities in the 27-member EU.
TikTok, which has achieved rapid growth especially among young people, confirmed that it is pausing changes to its privacy policy in Europe, but defended its plans for targeted advertising.
A TikTok spokesperson said, “We believe personalized advertising delivers the best in-app experience for our community and brings us in line with industry practices, and we look forward to engaging with stakeholders and addressing their concerns.” look forward to.”
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The Italian data protection authority welcomed a responsible decision on the part of TikTok to suspend the planned changes.
Companies operating in the EU could face fines of up to 4% of their global revenue for breach of privacy.
The DPC has already opened two other inquiries to TikTok related to the processing of personal data of children and the transfer of personal data in China.
(Additional reporting by Conor Humphries in Dublin Writing by Keith Weir Editing by David Goodman)
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