Ireland's Data Authority Opens New Investigation Of TikTok Regarding Data Storage In China

JAKARTA - Ireland's Data Protection Commission, which has major authorities, has started a new investigation into TikTok regarding European user data storage in China. The investigation comes after the short video platform revealed in April that a number of user data had been temporarily stored on Chinese servers.

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance last May was fined 530 million euros by Irish authorities over concerns over the way the platform protects European user information, which is partially remotely accessed by staff in China.

The new investigation, carried out by major TikTok regulators in the European Union as its European headquarters are located in Ireland, will focus on data storage in China, which was not considered in the previous investigation.

Ireland's authorities stated in May that during a four-year investigation, TikTok claimed not to store EU user data in China. However, in April, TikTok revealed that two months earlier found a small amount of data stored in China, which was later deleted.

TikTok is filing an appeal against the ruling on May 2 and states that the decision risks creating precedents with grave consequences for companies and industries across Europe operating globally.

A TikTok spokesman has yet to comment on this new investigation.