TikTok, Reddit and Imgur to be investigated over use of children’s data
TikTok, Reddit and Imgur are to be investigated by the UK’s data protection watchdog over how they use teenage users’ personal information.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it wants to look into how video-sharing app TikTok uses information from users aged 13 to 17 to deliver content recommendations to them.
The investigations into online forum site Reddit and image-sharing site Imgur will focus on their use of age assurance measures, such as how they estimate and verify children’s ages, and how they use their personal information.
The regulator is taking action amid growing concerns about how social media platforms use data generated by children’s online activity in their recommendation algorithms – and the potential for young people to be served harmful or inappropriate content as a result.
TikTok’s algorithm powers the For You Page, which recommends videos to users based on the content they engage with on the app.
A study previously found the app was suggesting eating disorder and self-harm content to some new teen accounts within minutes.
Information commissioner John Edwards said the regulator wants to ensure the sites’ processes are “robust”.
Mr Edwards said he expects “to find that there will be many benign and positive uses of children’s data in their recommender systems”, as well as “elements that are designed to keep children safe”.
“What I am concerned about is whether they are sufficiently robust to prevent children being exposed to harm, either from addictive practices on the device or the platform, or from content that they see, or from other unhealthy practices,” he continued.
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He insisted the regular is not “picking on TikTok” by including it in the investigation and said the choice was motivated by “the direction of growth travel in relation to young users, market dominance and potential for harm”.
“We’ve got to choose one – we can’t spread ourselves too thinly,” he said. “We hope to learn lessons that the whole industry will be able to adopt.”
The ICO said its investigations will examine whether there have been any data protection infringements, and if evidence of potential breaches is found, it will put the information to the platforms for their input before reaching a conclusion.
