EU vs TikTok: Battle for teen data

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The EU billed TikTok for as much as €345 million.

Chinese social media platform TikTok has been fined €345 million by the European Union for violating the rules governing the processing of personal data of children and teenagers. This is the first fine issued by the block to a Chinese platform.

The fine was announced by the Irish Data Protection Commission, responsible for TikTok's compliance with EU data protection laws. An investigation launched in September 2021 revealed that TikTok violated EU rules by setting profiles of children aged 13-17 years old open by default. This allowed anyone to view their content and connect with them.

In addition, the platform did not provide underage users with sufficient transparency regarding the processing of their data. Under the family association function, there was also no guarantee that the adult associated with the child's account is actually the child's parent or guardian.

A TikTok representative disagreed with the decision, especially with the size of the fine imposed. He stressed that the criticism of the DPC concerned functions and settings that were introduced three years ago, and changes in which were made before the investigation began.

At the same time, Elaine Fox, TikTok's head of privacy in Europe, said that the platform will continue to strengthen the protection of teenagers.

Interestingly, despite the objections of the Italian and German data protection authorities, the amount of the fine remained unchanged. TikTok has three months to complete the solution.

The DPC is also expected to share the results of its investigation into TikTok's data transfer to China with other European data protection authorities by the end of the year.

 

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TikTok Siphons Millions of Dollars From Naive Crypto Investors

Users of the popular video platform have been following obvious fraudulent schemes for several years.

Recently, the TikTok platform has become a kind of field of activity for scammers who organize fake cryptocurrency sweepstakes. It is noteworthy that almost all videos on this topic are materials related to Tesla or SpaceX, parasitic on the fame and reputation of American billionaire Elon Musk.

Previously, such schemes have already been seen on social media platforms such as Instagram * and Twitter **. Hackers imitate celebrities or famous cryptocurrency exchanges, and then set up hundreds of sites where potential victims can allegedly win or profitably exchange cryptocurrency. Users are asked to register an account and make a deposit, which is then simply stolen by fraudsters.

Although it would seem that many people should immediately suspect something is wrong, such scams have been successfully operating for several years, and the account of stolen funds goes to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Due to the popularity of TikTok, fake cryptocurrency sweepstakes began to appear on the platform with enviable regularity. In many cases, Elon Musk's deepfakes are used, simulating interviews on channels like Fox News to promote fake promotions and practical jokes.

TikTok Bitcoin Giveaways

Foreign resource BleepingComputer made a large-scale check of such "draws" and found that almost all attackers use the same template, imitating platforms for cryptocurrency investments.

One example of fraudulent crypto platforms

To participate in the raffle, you need to register an account and enter a promo code from the TikTok video, after which the site simulates crediting Bitcoin to the user's wallet. However, when trying to withdraw "free" bitcoins, users find that they need to activate their account, for which they need to make a deposit of 0.005 BTC (approximately $132 or ~13 thousand rubles).

Requirements for "account activation"

To make matters worse, in addition to a one-time monetary loss, the user information used to top up the deposit, including KYC data, can be used by hackers for subsequent attacks on other legitimate cryptocurrency accounts of the victim. And the potential damage in these attacks can already amount to much larger amounts.

Due to the high prevalence of such fraudulent schemes, the non-profit organization BBB recently even warned the public and gave a number of useful recommendations on how not to lose your savings and data.

And the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned about this kind of fraud back in 2021, and already at that time the damage from such cryptocurrency schemes amounted to about $80 million. And by now, this amount has probably overcome all imaginable and unthinkable limits.

It is important to remember that almost every site that offers cryptocurrency sweepstakes and other quick get-rich-quick options is fraudulent. Especially if we are talking about sweepstakes from people claiming to be associated with Elon Musk, Tesla, SpaceX and other well-known companies or celebrities.