Italy's DPA to Probe Alleged TikTok Data Privacy Issues
After a month in which social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn have all been hit with fines of hundreds of millions of dollars, TikTok is now facing further pressure from data protection regulators after a new round of data privacy accusations.
TikTok, a Chinese-owned company, has long been plagued with rumors and concerns of the platform's data protection and privacy. The company's CEO even appeared before the U.S. Congress a few months ago to testify and dispel some of these notions, although new reports from last week have suggested that the Chinese government can in fact access user data from TikTok.
Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, but it has caused many to take action, including Italy's Data Protection Authority, the Garante. The Garante similarly spearheaded concerns over OpenAI's ChatGPT, limiting its usage within Italy until the company explained how it handled data. Now, the DPA has given TikTok 15 days to produce a formal response to this new report and outline how Italian and EU user data is protected from alleged access by the Chinese government.
