Italian DPA imposes limitation on processing on TikTok after the death of a Girl from Palermo

Jan 25, 2021

Source: European Data Protection Board

The Italian SA (Garante per la protezione dei dati personali) imposed an immediate limitation on the processing performed by TikTok with regard to the data of users whose age could not be established with certainty.

The SA decided to take urgent measures (GDPR, art. 58, comma 2, lett. f) and art. 66, comma 1) following the dismay caused by the death of a 10-year-old girl from Palermo.

In December, the Garante had already notified several infringements to TikTok including poor attention to the protection of minors, the easy dodging of the registration ban the company applies to children under 13 years, non-transparent and unclear information provided to users, and default settings falling short of privacy requirements.

Pending receipt of the feedback that was requested via the above notification, the Garante decided to anyhow step in today in order to afford immediate protection to the minors in Italy that have joined the social platform.

This is why the Italian SA banned TikTok from further processing the data relating to any user ‘whose age could not be established with full certainty so as to ensure compliance with the age-related requirements’.

The ban will apply provisionally until 15 February as the Garante plans to conclude its further assessment by that date.

The limitation order will be brought to the attention of the Irish SA, since TikTok recently communicated that it had set its main EU establishment in Ireland. 

To read the decision in Italian, click here.

For further information, please contact the Italian SA: ufficiostampa@gpdp.it

The press release published here does not constitute official EDPB communication, nor an EDPB endorsement. This press release was originally published by the national supervisory authority and was published here at the request of the SA for information purposes. As the press release is represented here as it appeared on the SA’s website or other channels of communication, the news item is only available in English or in the Member State’s official language with a short introduction in English. Any questions regarding this press release should be directed to the supervisory authority concerned.

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