Brazil Fines TikTok Owner ByteDance Nearly $30 Million for Child Data Privacy Violations
Brazil's data protection authority has fined ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, approximately $30 million (153.8 million reais) for alleged violations of the country's General Data Protection Law. The regulatory body's ruling states that TikTok mishandled the personal data of children and teenagers, specifically those aged 13 to 18, by collecting and processing their information without a valid legal basis or adequate safeguards. The regulator estimated that TikTok may have processed data from at least 8 million children and highlighted systemic deficiencies in the platform's age-verification mechanisms. A key concern was TikTok's 'logged-out feed' feature, available in Brazil but not in the U.S. or Europe, which allows minors to browse content without creating an account, thereby bypassing age checks. The ruling mandates TikTok to erase all illegally gathered data and to develop a comprehensive youth-protection framework. ByteDance has 10 days to appeal the decision. 
