TikTok has agreed to pay $92 million for a lawsuit settlement after users alleged TikTok for their data privacy violation. Read more about the case.
In early 2021 TikTok agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit consisting of 21 putative class actions. The lawsuits originated after TikTok collected and transmitted sensitive personal data through the Internet.
Furthermore, the lawsuit class is made for the Americans who used TikTok app before October 1, 2021. Moreover, The total number of users in TikTok crossed 1 billion by September this year.
What Is Tiktok Data Privacy Settlement Lawsuit?
The first initial case of data privacy violation got filed in November 2019 in California. With time, several new cases were filed in other districts of California. The owner of TikTok, ByteDance, announced to settle the lawsuit by paying $92 million.
The several TikTok complaints registered include violations of the Privacy, Video Privacy Protection Act, U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act, and more.
Moving on, Plaintiffs also claimed that TikTok collected biometric data (facial recognition) and stored the data in servers located in China. Though ByteDance denied any wrongdoing from their platform, they have agreed to pay $92 as a settlement for the lawsuit.
TikTok hit with complaints from European consumer groups over child safety, data privacy https://t.co/uRhn8zjQuL pic.twitter.com/qxvO5k62wi
— The Hill (@thehill) February 16, 2021
In addition, ByteDance has also agreed on the court to hire a third-party firm for at least three years to oversee their data handling and employee management.
TikTok still faces lawsuits from different regions, including the U.K. and the E.U. Politicians have also been pressuring them to answer their crimes.
Class Action Lawsuit Notice Update
Plaintiffs ( Prosecutor) have accused TikTok of secretly stealing their personal with their biometric data without their consent. So far, the court has not ruled TikTok guilty, and they appear to have settled for $92 million.
A final hearing in the class action lawsuit of TikTok is scheduled for May 18, 2022. Any users from Illinois, United States, can claim their settlement if they have used TikTok before October 1, 2021.
The privacy violations on TikTok states that they have violated BIPA in several ways. The users also noticed that the app was making recommendations on their feeds based on their race, ethnicity, and age.
Breaking: The U.S. said it will ban downloads of TikTok and use of the Chinese-owned messaging app WeChat after Sunday night over national security and data privacy concerns https://t.co/rjmHQhFBCs pic.twitter.com/UW0mzcrUSY
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) September 18, 2020
What Does Class Action Lawsuit Firm Mean?
The $92 million settlement agreed by TikTok will be used as a monetary relief for the users whose personal data got compromised. In addition, the two classes, Nationwide class and Illinois Sub-class, combine over 89 million TikTok users eligible for the Lawsuit Settlement.
Moreover, the TikTok users before October 1, 2021, can also claim their parts.