Musical.ly, the social media app now referred to as TikTok, has agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) $5.7 million for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the FTC introduced right this moment (February 27). The $5.7 million charge will mark the very best penalty collected for a COPPA violation.
COPPA requires web sites which might be directed at youngsters (below the age of 13) to acquire consent from the customers’ mother and father earlier than gathering private info. FTC Chariman Joe Simons acknowledged, “The operators of Musical.ly—now known as TikTok—knew many children were using the app but they still failed to seek parental consent before collecting names, email addresses, and other personal information from users under the age of 13.”
Musical.ly had tried to bypass COPPA by not requiring customers to submit their age, based on a 2016 report by John Herrman for The New York Times. In that very same report, Herrman famous that Musical.ly claimed “the app is ‘intended for 13+ only.’”
Musical.ly launched in 2014. The app allowed customers to create lip-synching movies set to music. Musical.ly merged with TikTok in August 2018.
Read Pitchfork’s function “How TikTok Gets Rich While Paying Artists Pennies.”
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