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Tiktok has been fined 530 million euros for sending user data to China as the social media group said it would have a negative impact on any European company with global operations.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission issued financial penalties on Friday, saying Tiktok violated the failure of EU data protection regulations regarding the transfer of personal information to China and other transparency requirements.
With Tiktok’s European base in Dublin, the Irish watchdog in charge of the matter ordered the viral video group to make the processing compliant within six months.
Tiktok, whose parent company, Baitedan, is based in Beijing, said he opposed the decision and vowed to appeal.
“The DPC itself recorded what Tiktok said in its report, which it has never received requests for European user data from Chinese authorities and has never provided European user data,” the company said in a statement.
“This decision has implications for the global operation of not only Tiktok but all European companies. We are opposed to this decision and will fully appeal it,” he added.
The penalty is the third highest ever by the Irish DPC, which fined Facebook owner Meta €1.2 billion and Amazon €746 million. In 2023, Tiktok was fined 345 million euros in 2023, processing the personal data of children and teens.
The DPC survey covers Tiktok’s operations from September 2021 to May 2023. Ultimately, Tiktok said he admitted that “limited” European user data was stored on Chinese servers. Tiktok says this data has been deleted.
“We are pleased to announce the fine,” said Graham Doyle, deputy committee member of the DPC.
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Tiktok said that DPC dominance focuses solely on selection periods and does not reflect a safeguard established based on a 12 billion euro security initiative called Project Clover, which said there are “some of the strictest data protections everywhere.”
Tiktok has also fired in the US, and last year Congress passed a law last year requiring apps to be sold or face a nationwide ban.
President Donald Trump, who gave the company a reprieve, suggested that if Beijing allows it to sell the highly popular video sharing app to US investors, it could cut tariffs on Chinese products.
