Social media platforms TikTok, Reddit, and Imgur are all under probe by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) over alleged discrepancies in handling children’s personal data.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the ICO stated that it will investigate how TikTok uses the personal data of 13–17-year-olds to inform its fuel advice to its algorithms.
In addition, the statement issued by the ICO mentioned that Reddit and Imgur are being investigated for the way their websites “use UK children’s personal information and their use of age assurance measures.”
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“If social media and video sharing platforms want to benefit from operating in the UK, they must comply with data protection law,” said UK Information Commissioner John Edwards. “The responsibility to keep children safe online lies firmly at the door of the companies offering these services, and my office is steadfast in its commitment to hold them to account.”
Concerns about how social networking and video-sharing websites gather and handle data from younger users are growing, which is why TikTok, Reddit, and Imgur are being investigated.
Source: Ripples