EU Confirms It Is Carrying Out Investigations Regarding TikTok's Data Transfer Practices

EU executives are investigating TikTok (photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has confirmed that the European Union has conducted several investigations regarding the possible access to the data of TikTok users in the EU by the Chinese public authorities.

The news was shared by United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr on Twitter, who posted a letter saying investigators were working to ensure TikTok complied with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements.

"Under EU data protection rules, companies in the EU that transfer personal data to third countries must comply with international transfer requirements under Chapter V of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)," the letter read.

NEW: The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, confirms that #TikTok’s data transfers are under investigation & object of several ongoing proceedings.

This comes after concerns raised by Members of the European Parliament about data access from inside China https://t.co/aWlVl6hnXJ pic.twitter.com/dhOCojKKOW

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) November 22, 2022

According to Leyen, monitoring and enforcement of compliance with EU data protection rules by companies falls within the principal competence of national authorities, in particular independent data protection authorities (DPA) and courts.

Leyen believes that TikTok's data practices, which relate to international data transfers, are the object of several ongoing processes.

"This includes an investigation by DPA Ireland into TikTok's compliance with several GDPR requirements, including regarding the transfer of data to China and the processing of data of minors, and litigation before Dutch courts (specifically regarding targeted advertising regarding minors and transfer of data to China)" the letter concluded.

This letter follows a report from BuzzFeed News which claims that Chinese public authorities are gaining access to data on TikTok users in the EU, and it is this data practice that has come under scrutiny by the EU.

Earlier this year, TikTok agreed to enforce certain policies on advertising and branded content following complaints accusing the app of violating EU consumer rules.

Carr, Commissioner of the FCC said this month that TikTok should be banned in the US. Previously he urged Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores.