TikTok faces billion dollar damage claims for breaching children’s privacy

TikTok could face billion dollar damage claims in an ongoing case in London’s High Court over allegations of illegally harvesting data of European children without consent. Amy Longfield, the former Children’s Commissioner for England  has alleged that every child that has used TikTok since May 25, 2018, may have had their private personal information collected by ByteDance the parent company of TikTok for the benefit of unknown third parties.

While the company has stated that the claims lacks merit, the claimants allege that TikTok violated UK and European Union data protection laws by processing data of children without adequate security measures, transparency, consent of guardians or legitimate interest. The claimants want the company to delete all children’s personal information.

This case has been put on hold as it awaits a UK Supreme Court ruling  expected next week in a bellwether case against Google (GOOGL.O) over alleged unlawful tracking of iPhone users in 2011 and 2012 through third-party cookies.