海角社区官网

“Recognizing the significant gaps that we observed in TikTok鈥檚 underage user detection mechanisms, we found it likely that many more children continued to use the platform, undetected, and therefore subjected to profiling and targeting by TikTok.”

But because TikTok has committed to implementing most of the report’s recommendations聽鈥� despite the report noting the company “generally disagreed with our findings”聽鈥� the commissioners said they consider the matter “well-founded and conditionally resolved.”

That means that the company contravened parts of Canadian privacy law, but that it promised to put in place “satisfactory corrective actions.”聽

The report comes more than two years after the joint investigation was first launched in early 2023.聽

Dufresne and his counterparts began the probe to determine whether TikTok鈥檚 practices complied with Canadian privacy law. In particular, the probe examined whether the app was obtaining 鈥渧alid and meaningful consent鈥� regarding its handling of personal information and if it was meeting its transparency obligations.

The investigation primarily focused on how TikTok鈥檚 privacy practices apply to younger users, given the app鈥檚 enormous popularity among youth.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has said the probe was launched 鈥渋n the wake of now-settled class-action lawsuits in the United States and Canada, as well as numerous media reports related to TikTok鈥檚 collection, use and disclosure of personal information.鈥�

The app, whose parent company, ByteDance, is headquartered in Beijing, has come under fire over allegations about its data collection practices and reports that it exposes youth to harmful content.

TikTok has endured a fraught relationship with Ottawa in recent years: days after the privacy probe was launched, the federal government banned the app from government-issued mobile devices, framing the move as a precautionary measure due to 鈥渃oncerns about the legal regime that governs the information collected from mobile devices.鈥�

The move led to a political exodus from the app, with party leaders and other politicians deleting their accounts, though some have since restored their profiles.

Then, last November, Ottawa announced it had ordered TikTok to wind up its business operations in Canada, after a national security review revealed 鈥渟pecific national security risks鈥� linked to ByteDance. At the time, the federal government chose not to fully ban the app in Canada, but told users to be vigilant about how their data is 鈥渓ikely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors.鈥� The government said it was not able to publicly disclose specific risks.

Jurisdictions around the world have raised concerns over whether Chinese security laws would force companies to hand users鈥� personal data to Beijing. TikTok has denied it is controlled by the Chinese government and says Canadian data is stored outside China and that the app鈥檚 operations in Canada are subjected to this country鈥檚 privacy laws.

TikTok has also defended its safeguarding of user data and its youth safety practices, which includes banning the app for those under 13 and imposing limits on those under 18.

TikTok Canada has previously accused the federal government of dragging the app into the midst of a geopolitical spat with Beijing following allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian elections. The company said back in 2023 that Ottawa never reached out about its privacy and security concerns before barring the app on government devices.

It further slammed the federal government for its decision to shutter TikTok鈥檚 Canadian operations late last year聽鈥� a move that has not yet come to fruition聽鈥� stating that hundreds of jobs are at risk, that the decision would eliminate the millions of dollars it contributes to Canada鈥檚 economy, and that its Canadian teams are instrumental in working with governments to counter misinformation and share election resources.

In December, the company launched a legal challenge against the shutdown order, arguing that Ottawa 鈥渇ailed to engage with TikTok Canada on the purported substance of the concerns鈥� that led to the decision, and that the move bears 鈥渘o rational connection to the national security risks it identifies.鈥�

Dufresne鈥檚 office has said the shutdown request did not affect the privacy investigation and that fears of Chinese government access to user information largely fell outside the scope of his probe.