TIKTOK IN HOT WATER

A group of children’s and consumer advocacy groups filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Thursday alleging that TikTok broke privacy commitments it had made to resolve a prior complaint.

The short-form video-sharing platform last year agreed to settle charges that one of its predecessors, Musical.ly, violated the federal law governing privacy safeguards for children online.

Under the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), developers of apps geared toward children cannot collect personally identifiable information on users under the age of 13 without consent from parents or legal guardians.

The complaint, which also resulted in a $5.7 million fine, alleged the company collected without consent the names, emails and videos of users under the age of 13.

TikTok agreed as part of the settlement to obtain parental permission before collecting personal information and to delete any information about users identified as under 13.

The 20 groups said in their complaint Thursday that TikTok has failed to meet those commitments.

The complaint identifies videos posted by children under the age of 13 still on the app.

It also raises concerns over a specific service the company developed for users under 13, TikTok for Younger Users.