FTC Issues Fine To Developer Of Popular Kids App Over Privacy Violations

The developer of popular Chinese app, Tik Tok, was slapped with a huge fine by the Federal Trade Commission over privacy issues. The developer was found to have gathered personal data of the children who used their application. This is a serious blow to the developers of the app, but could be potentially problematic for the users as well. This is the reason why companies must have proper IT management to prevent any data loss from such cases.

The FTC filed a complaint and handed the company a $5.7 million fine over violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The FTC cited the data gathering practices of the company which did not require parental consent from users ages 13 and below. User credential including names, e-mail addresses, profile pictures, and other information were gathered. To add more to their violations, the company’s development team failed to keep the said data away from public viewing. Failure to keep the data private has clearly exacerbated the already sorry state of their practices.

What’s even more disturbing is the fact that in the FTC filing, it was highlighted that there were numerous attempts where adults contacted children through the app. The complaint also noted the fact that users were able to view other people’s accounts within a 50-mile radius prior to the release of their 2016 update. With this in hand, it is highly important for businesses to have IT management Wilmington to protect data of employees and the company as well.

With the FTC pounding hard on the makers of Tik Tok, it sends a message to all developers to put more time and effort into producing better security and permissions for their applications. After all, information security and preventing untoward incidents is a prime reason for such measures.

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