TikTok
Non-EUShort-video platform by ByteDance (China) with 1B+ users. Fined EUR 875M by EU regulators for data transfers and children's privacy violations.
- •Chinese parent company ByteDance subject to national security laws
- •Fined EUR 530 million for illegally transferring EU user data to China
- •Fined EUR 345 million for mishandling children's data
- •Collects biometric data including faceprints and voiceprints
- •Initially denied storing European data in China, later admitted it
- •Banned from EU institution devices over security concerns
- •2026 privacy policy expanded precise GPS location collection
TikTok lets you create and share short videos with built-in editing tools, effects, and a library of licensed music. The recommendation algorithm is remarkably precise. It figures out what you like within minutes and builds a For You feed that keeps the average user scrolling for 95 minutes a day.
That algorithm needs data to work. TikTok collects device identifiers, browsing history, keystroke patterns, faceprints, voiceprints, and (since the 2026 privacy update) precise GPS location. This goes further than most competing platforms.
European regulators have hit TikTok hard. The Irish Data Protection Commission fined the company EUR 530 million in May 2025 for sending European user data to servers in China without proper safeguards. A separate EUR 345 million fine in 2023 targeted how the platform handled children's data. That adds up to EUR 875 million in GDPR penalties.
TikTok is spending EUR 12 billion on Project Clover to build data centers in Ireland, Norway, and Finland for European users. Independent security firm NCC Group monitors the access controls. The catch: the May 2025 fine landed after TikTok admitted some European data had ended up on Chinese servers, despite earlier denials.
Worth knowing
ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, is based in Beijing and falls under Chinese national security laws that can force companies to hand over data. Several EU institutions have banned TikTok from staff devices. In the US, ByteDance sold its TikTok operations to American investors in January 2026 after a federal ban law kicked in. European operations stay under ByteDance ownership. Your data protection in the EU depends on whether Project Clover actually delivers what it promises. Regulators are still checking.
- •Chinese parent company ByteDance subject to national security laws
- •Fined EUR 530 million for illegally transferring EU user data to China
- •Fined EUR 345 million for mishandling children's data
- •Collects biometric data including faceprints and voiceprints
- •Initially denied storing European data in China, later admitted it
- •Banned from EU institution devices over security concerns
- •2026 privacy policy expanded precise GPS location collection
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Mastodon
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