TikTok fined 5 million euros by France for online tracking
Beijing, January 13 (Xinhua) France fined TikTok 5 million euros (36.57 million yuan) on Thursday because the short video platform had defects in handling online tracking of files known as "cookies". TikTok said that the problem has now been solved.
According to EU regulations, websites must explicitly obtain the consent of Internet users before using cookies, and it should be easy for users to refuse to follow. Cookies, also known as small data files, is a way to track the activity of visitors throughout the site.
CNIL, the French data protection regulator, said its investigation covered only tiktok.com sites, not smartphone apps that were much more frequently used. CNIL found that rejecting online trackers is not as easy as accepting online trackers for users of tiktok.com sites. The agency also found that Internet users were not fully informed of TikTok's use of cookies.
A spokesman for TikTok responded: "these findings are related to past practices we addressed last year, including now making it easier for users to reject non-essential cookies and providing additional information about certain cookies uses. CNIL itself highlights our cooperation in the investigation process, and user privacy remains a top priority for TikTok."
Separately, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed an order on Thursday banning the use of TikTok on government-owned and managed devices. Currently, more than 20 other states have banned the use of TikTok on official equipment.
In addition to banning TikTok, Evers also banned suppliers, products and services from nine companies, including Huawei Technology, Haikang Visa, Tencent Holdings, ZTE and Kaspersky Labs.
