{"id":90598,"date":"2025-09-28T18:48:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T18:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tiktok-child-data-protection-inadequate-officials-say"},"modified":"2025-09-29T14:02:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T14:02:27","slug":"tiktok-child-data-protection-inadequate-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tiktok-child-data-protection-inadequate-officials-say","title":{"rendered":"TikTok Child Data Protection Inadequate Officials Say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>TikTok\u2019s efforts to stop children using the app and protect their personal data have been inadequate, a Canadian investigation has found.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of children in the country use TikTok each year despite the firm saying it is not intended for people under the age of 13, according to the findings.<\/p>\n

The investigation also found TikTok had collected sensitive personal information from \u201ca large number\u201d of Canadian children and used it for online marketing and content targeting.<\/p>\n

TikTok told the BBC that it will introduce a number of measures to \u201cstrengthen our platform for Canadians\u201d although it disputes some of the findings.<\/p>\n

The investigation was carried out by Canada\u2019s privacy commissioner, Philippe Dufresne, and privacy protection officials.<\/p>\n

At a news conference to announce the findings, Mr Dufresne said the hugely popular short-video platform collects \u201cvast\u201d amounts of information from its users, including children.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis data is being used to target the content and ads that users see, which can have harmful impacts, particularly on youth,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Mr Dufresne said that in response to the investigation TikTok had agreed to enhance measures to stop children using the platform and to more clearly indicate how their data could be used.<\/p>\n

In statement a TikTok spokesperson said it welcomed the investigation and that Canadian officials had \u201cagreed to a number of our proposals to further strengthen our platform\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we disagree with some of the findings, we remain committed to maintaining strong transparency and privacy practices,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

The BBC has asked the company to specify which findings it disagreed with.<\/p>\n

The Canadian investigation is the latest move by governments around the world to scrutinise TikTok\u2019s impact on users as well as national security concerns over the Chinese-owned app.<\/p>\n

The company and Beijing have repeatedly denied such allegations.<\/p>\n

In the US, President Donald Trump has been negotiating with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping about a deal that could see TikTok\u2019s US operations being taken over by a group of American companies.<\/p>\n

In 2023, staff working at the European Commission were ordered to remove the TikTok app from their phones and corporate devices.<\/p>\n

The commission said it was implementing the measure to \u201cprotect data and increase cybersecurity\u201d.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. TikTok\u2019s efforts to stop children using the app and protect their personal data have been inadequate, a Canadian investigation has found. Hundreds of thousands of children in the country use TikTok each year despite the firm saying it is not intended for people under the age of 13, according to the findings. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":90597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-90598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nTikTok Child Data Protection Inadequate Officials Say - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"TikTok\u2019s efforts to stop children using the app and protect their personal data have been inadequate, a Canadian investi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tiktok-child-data-protection-inadequate-officials-say\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TikTok Child Data Protection Inadequate Officials Say\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TikTok\u2019s efforts to stop children using the app and protect their personal data have been inadequate, a Canadian investi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tiktok-child-data-protection-inadequate-officials-say\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-28T18:48:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-29T14:02:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1759073697.869028.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1160\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"623\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tiktok-child-data-protection-inadequate-officials-say#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tiktok-child-data-protection-inadequate-officials-say\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"TikTok Child Data Protection Inadequate Officials Say\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-28T18:48:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-29T14:02:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tiktok-child-data-protection-inadequate-officials-say\"},\"wordCount\":386,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tiktok-child-data-protection-inadequate-officials-say#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1759073697.869028.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tiktok-child-data-protection-inadequate-officials-say#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tiktok-child-data-protection-inadequate-officials-say\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tiktok-child-data-protection-inadequate-officials-say\",\"name\":\"TikTok Child Data Protection Inadequate Officials Say - 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