TikTok, the hugely popular video sharing social media platform, is likely to be ticked off after being fined EUR 750,000 by the Dutch Data Protection Authority for violating the privacy of young children for not translating its privacy statement into Dutch.
According to a news report by the European Data Protection Board “the information provided by TikTok to Dutch users – many of whom are young children – when installing and using the app was in English and thus not readily understandable”.
TikTok therefore, failed to provide an adequate explanation of how data is collected, stored and used by the app which is an infringement of privacy legislation.
The number of TikTok users increased rapidly during the COVID pandemic, especially among young children, which prompted the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) to launch an investigation in May 2020.
However, a loop hole in the law has limited the investigation powers of the DPA.
The European Data Protection Board state that “if a company does not have its headquarters in Europe, any EU member state can engage in oversight with regard to its activities. In the case of companies that do have their headquarters in Europe, this responsibility would fall mainly to the country where the headquarters are located”.
During the initial stages of the investigation, TikTok, which had no head office in Europe allowing the Netherlands to investigate, established operations in Ireland.
This meant that the investigation by the DPA had to be transferred to the Irish Data Protection Commission.
The DPA’s Deputy Chair Monique Verdier, said ‘We are now transferring several results of our investigation to the Irish Data Protection Commission. Initially TikTok did not have its head office in Europe, and we were able to look into this matter from the Netherlands, but in the course of our investigation, TikTok established operations in Ireland.’
‘From that point on, the DPA was only authorised to assess TikTok’s privacy statement because the violation itself had already ended. It is now up to Ireland’s Data Protection Commission to finish our investigation and issue a final ruling on the other possible violations of privacy investigated by the DPA.’
Translating Terms and Conditions
For international firms, this investigation brings to light the need to translate terms and conditions or risk facing a hefty fine.
Translating additional customer information linked to legal responsibilities, rights or regulations is essential for firms moving into new markets or establishing overseas operations.
Laws and regulations change or are updated frequently, so keeping up with amendments is vital for continued trading and success.
At Creative Word, we offer native speaking translators with legal and industry experience so you can be certain your translated terms and conditions will be accurate and in-line with current in-country legislation.
For further information on how we can help, please contact a member of the team.
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