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TikTok Collected Sensitive Data on Canadian Children, Probe Reveals

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TikTok has pledged to strengthen safeguards to keep children off its platform after a Canadian investigation concluded that the company failed to adequately block underage users and protect their personal information.

The inquiry, led by Canada’s federal privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne along with privacy watchdogs in Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta, found that hundreds of thousands of Canadian children used TikTok annually despite the platform’s minimum age requirement of 13.

Investigators also determined that TikTok collected sensitive personal data from “a large number” of children and used it for marketing and content-targeting purposes. “TikTok collects vast amounts of personal information about its users, including children. This data is being used to target the content and ads that users see, which can have harmful impacts, particularly on youth,” Dufresne said at a press conference.

In response, TikTok agreed to adopt stricter age-verification systems, improve transparency about how user data is used, and prevent advertisers from directly targeting anyone under 18, except through broad categories such as language or approximate location. The company also expanded the privacy information available to Canadian users.

A TikTok spokesperson said the company was pleased regulators accepted several of its proposals to “further strengthen” protections for Canadian users, while noting disagreement with some of the findings. The spokesperson did not specify which ones.

The case comes amid growing global scrutiny of TikTok due to concerns about its ties to China. TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, and governments worldwide—including the EU and the U.S.—have taken steps to restrict or ban the app on official devices.

In Canada, the government launched a review of TikTok’s planned expansion in 2023, which ultimately led to an order demanding the company shut down its Canadian operations over national security risks. TikTok is challenging that order.

Judge Rejects Class Action Lawsuit Over Google Chrome Privacy Claims

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A U.S. federal judge ruled on Monday that people alleging Google illegally collected their personal data from Google Chrome browsers without syncing with Google accounts cannot proceed with a class action lawsuit against Alphabet’s unit.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, agreed with Google that claims should be handled individually to determine if millions of Chrome users understood and consented to the company’s data collection policies.

“Inquiries relating to Google’s implied consent defense will overwhelm the damages claims for all causes of action,” the judge wrote. She dismissed the proposed damages class action with prejudice, barring it from being filed again. Additionally, Chrome users were denied the ability to seek policy changes as a group.

Google’s Vice President of Litigation, Sandi Knight, said the company appreciated the decision and noted that Chrome Sync includes clear privacy controls. Plaintiffs’ lawyer David Straite declined to comment.

The ruling follows a 2024 federal appeals court decision instructing Judge Rogers to assess whether reasonable Chrome users consented to Google collecting their data during browsing. Plaintiffs argued that Chrome’s privacy notice misled users by stating they “don’t need to provide any personal information to use Chrome” and that Google would only collect data if users enabled the sync feature.

Judge Rogers had previously dismissed the case in December 2022 but continues to oversee two other privacy lawsuits against Google with different claims. The appeals court decision came after Google agreed in 2023 to destroy billions of data records to settle a lawsuit related to tracking users in Incognito mode.

Case: Calhoun et al v Google LLC, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 22-16993.

Dutch Privacy Watchdog to Investigate China’s DeepSeek AI Over Data Concerns

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The Netherlands’ privacy watchdog, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP), announced on Friday that it will launch an investigation into the data collection practices of Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek. The AP expressed serious concerns over DeepSeek’s privacy policies, particularly regarding how it handles personal information.

Aleid Wolfsen, Chairman of the AP, warned Dutch users to exercise caution when using DeepSeek’s software, citing the potential risks to privacy. The agency also emphasized that personal data from European citizens can only be stored outside of Europe under strict conditions, which DeepSeek must meet.

This move comes just days after Italy blocked DeepSeek’s app over similar privacy concerns, and both Ireland and France have sought information on the company’s data processing practices. The AP revealed that it is working closely with other European Union regulators to exchange information and coordinate future actions.