Tiktok admitted that some European users’ data was stored in China, but the company claims that it has now removed the data. The company also said that it has never shared the data of European users with Chinese officials and will appeal against the decision.
The DPC has ordered Tiktok to bring its data processing practice in accordance with the rules of the European Union within six months. If the company fails to do so, it may have to suspend data transfer in China.
The fine is the third largest ever fines under the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Earlier, Meta was fined 1.2 billion euros in 2023.
Tiktok has planned to set up three data centers in Europe as a initiative called “Project Clover”, so that users’ data can be secured more. The company says that this initiative is to strengthen data security.
The case reflects increasing concerns over data privacy and security issues at global level. Especially when companies operate in different countries, they need to follow local laws and rules.
