Canada’s federal privacy commissioner, along with three provincial privacy commissioners, has launched an investigation into TikTok, investigating how the video-streaming platform collects the personal data of Canadian users.
The investigation is starting now because in the class action lawsuit United States of america and Canadian residents, the commissioners said in a statement.
The three participating provincial commissioners are from Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia.
The four privacy regulators will examine whether the organization’s practices are in compliance with Canadian privacy law and whether valid and meaningful consent is being obtained, in particular for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information, the statement said. Or not. The investigation will also determine whether the company is meeting its transparency obligations, particularly when collecting personal information from its users.
“A significant proportion of TikTok users are youth users,” the commissioners said. “Given the importance of protecting children’s privacy, the joint investigation will focus specifically on TikTok’s privacy practices as they relate to young users, including how the company has collected, used and disclosed personal information from these users.” whether valid and meaningful consent has been obtained for Information.”
Federal Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) investigate possible violations of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Pipeda), Quebec Access to Information Commission in Quebec will check compliance with Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector And this Act to establish a legal framework for information technology In Quebec, BC’s commissioner will investigate provincial compliance. Personal Information Protection Act and Alberta’s information commissioner will verify the province’s compliance Personal Information Protection Act,
This is not the first time that multiple privacy and information commissioners of the country have partnered to conduct a joint investigation. Last year, A group report was issued In use by Tim Hortons of its mobile app to track the location of users. The commissioners found the app to be in violation of federal and provincial privacy laws.
In 2021, A joint investigation found facial recognition provider Clearview AI violated federal and provincial privacy laws By scraping images from the internet without permission and using them in your commercial product.
While every province and territory has a privacy or information commissioner, most business sectors are covered by PIPEDA. BC, Alberta and Quebec have their own private sector privacy laws.
according to a news reportThe class action settlement in the US means that US residents who created videos on the app before September 30, 2021, will be owed US$27.84 and US$167.04, following a US$92 million settlement of the data privacy class-action with the social media platform. Payment will be received in between.
Last year a Canadian court approved a deal Here to settle the claim. TikTok agreed to pay $2 million to resolve two class action lawsuits in British Columbia, both alleging that it wrongfully collected personal information from minors and adults.
In both the US and Canadian lawsuits, TikTok did not admit any wrongdoing.
