On the 12th, France imposed a fine of 5 million euros (approximately NT$166.5 million) on the short video and video sharing platform TikTok because of defects in the platform’s use of web servers to track user data. In this regard, TikTok stated that this problem has now been resolved.
France’s data watchdog, the National Committee for Information and Liberties (CNIL), said the investigation only covered the website tiktok.com and not the more heavily used smartphone app. CNIL has found that it is not as easy for users of tiktok.com to refuse tracking from online servers as it is to accept it. In addition, online users are not adequately informed regarding how TikTok uses web servers (cookies) for tracking.
A spokesman for TikTok, which is owned by Chinese Internet technology company ByteDance, said: “These issues are related to our past practices, which were resolved last year, including making it easier to reject non-essential web servers and Provide additional information to explain the purpose of certain web servers.” “CNIL itself has emphasized our cooperation in the investigation process, and user privacy remains TikTok’s top priority.”
According to EU regulations, websites must explicitly obtain the consent of online users before they can use web servers to access data; and they must make it easier for users to refuse server tracking.
