Amidst multiple data privacy scandals, and even calls from officials to remove its apps from popular stores, TikTok seems determined to stick with its previous plans to roll out live shopping in the US.
A few months ago, a report revealed TikTok wanted to give up on rolling out its live shopping feature in the US and Europe. This comes after the platform had launched a similar service in the UK, a feature that reportedly hasn’t performed as well as the company had hoped. Live shopping has taken off in Asian countries, and TikTok has seen varying degrees of success with its TikTok Shop feature in markets like Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Yet Western markets appear more reluctant to adopt this style of shopping, which may pose problems for TikTok along with its impending legal battles. TikTok is currently facing a potential fine from the UK’s data protection watchdog for failing to adequately protect children’s privacy.
UK Watchdog Serves TikTok with “Notice of Intent” for Violating Privacy Laws
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced that it has served TikTok with a “notice of intent”. This is essentially a document that warns the company of the impending fine and gives it time to respond preemptively. If the ICO finishes its investigation and goes through with its plans, TikTok will face a hefty fine of £27 million.
According to the notice, the ICO found TikTok in breach of British data protection laws between May 2018 and July 2020. The notice claims that TikTok was processing data belonging to children under the age of 13 without appropriate parental consent. Even worse, the company also processed special category data, which includes extremely sensitive user data like sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and political beliefs.
The ICO’s findings are preliminary, and it has stressed that it will “carefully consider any representations from TikTok before taking a final decision.” TikTok has yet to formally reply to the notice, but a spokesperson from the company has stated it disagrees with the notice.
While we respect the ICO’s role in safeguarding privacy in the UK, we disagree with the preliminary views expressed and intend to formally respond to the ICO in due course.
TikTok’s Young User Base At Risk
Like most social media platforms, TikTok currently requires users to be 13 years of age or older. According to the company, it strictly enforces the minimum age requirement and takes steps to protect the data and privacy of young people. At the same time, the platform is widely known for targeting a very young user base.
TikTok’s own data shows most of its user base are between the ages 16-34. The company doesn’t provide any data on users younger than 16, but a recent Ofcom survey among parents revealed that children as young as 3 years old are actively using the platform. According to Ofcom’s report, many children between the ages of 8-11 also have multiple social accounts, some of which they hide from their parents.
Some children also admitted to potentially risky behaviors that could put their privacy — and even their lives — at risk, without their parents knowing. It’s assumed that most of these children also lie about their age on social platforms, both to circumvent the minimum age requirement and to appear older for social reasons.
This isn’t the first time TikTok has landed in hot water over its handling of childrens’ data either. The company has been fined by authorities for similar reasons in the past. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined TikTok $5.7 million in 2019 for knowingly posting content published by underage users. In 2021, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) fined TikTok €750,000 for violating the privacy of young children.
TikTok Apparently Plans Partnership with US-Based TalkShopLive
In July, the Financial Times reported that TikTok abandoned its plans to launch livestream shopping in the US after its ventures failed in the UK. Now, a new report shows the company hasn’t entirely given up on its efforts, but instead switched gears by partnering with already vested livestream shopping app TalkShopLive.
TalkShopLive is already working with local shopping giants including Walmart and Microsoft’s MSN to host shopping livestreams. Apparently, this partnership will allow TikTok users to host live shopping sessions on the TikTok app while also simultaneously allowing brands to stream to their own websites if they prefer.
After its successes with livestream shopping in Asia, TikTok had clearly hoped to have a similar trajectory in the West. Despite letdowns with its launch in the UK, it now seems the platform is still determined to launch livestream shopping in the US.
Many social platforms are eager to incorporate livestream shopping into their offering as it’s seen as the “next big thing”. That said, given how big of a concern security and data privacy is when it comes to social media apps, adding sensitive financial data into the mix could spell disaster.
TikTok is a Ticking Privacy Violation Time Bomb
Its immense popularity guarantees TikTok stays in the sights of scammers and cybercriminals. It also means the company should take extra precaution to secure its systems, as it can expose the data of billions of users. The platform has already failed on that front, exposing 2.6 million users’ personal data through an unsecured server.
Despite these threats, TikTokers should be even more concerned about internal data collection as the company’s practices come into question. Investigations have found that the social app logs everything its users type, even on external websites accessed through the app. Researchers have also found the company gathers an invasive amount of data, leading to US leaders calling for TikTok to be banned in the country.
In an effort to circumvent the consequences of these warnings, TikTok partnered with Oracle in the US to host their data servers. In reality, this didn’t prevent the platform or its parent company, ByteDance, from accessing US user data. TikTok’s partnership with TalkShopLive seems in line with this strategy — although as a precautionary measure to avoid expected pushback in the future.
Given all of these privacy worries, it’s possible that TikTok’s livestream shopping strategy will fail in the US like it did in the UK. It’s also possible this will be a new avenue of data gathering for the platform, which will present a host of new data security risks and concerns.
You might want to consider deleting your TikTok account permanently, or at least securing your devices while you use the app. Protect your digital privacy with CyberGhost VPN’s impenetrable 256-bit AES encryption while you follow along on the latest TikTok dance trend.
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