New York (CNN) – TikTok has failed to prevent children from joining the app and has illegally collected their personal data, the US Justice Department alleged in a lawsuit filed on Friday.
The lawsuit accuses TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, of violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by allowing minors to create accounts without their parents' knowledge or consent.
TikTok also collects and retains personal data from minors, such as email addresses, phone numbers and location data, and fails to honor parents' requests to delete their children's information, the lawsuit alleges.
Friday’s lawsuit stems from a 2019 agreement between TikTok and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to resolve allegations that it illegally collected personal information from children under 13. The agreement required the company to take specific steps to comply with COPPA. The Justice Department says TikTok has continued to violate the law, as well as that 2019 court order.
Despite offering a “Kids Mode” for users under 13, TikTok has still “knowingly allowed children under the age of 13 to create accounts in the regular TikTok experience and collected extensive personal information from those children without first providing notice to parents or obtaining verifiable parental consent,” according to the lawsuit, filed in California district court.
The lawsuit is the latest scrutiny for the popular short-video app, which is also embroiled in a legal battle over a law that could ban the app in the United States. TikTok has also previously faced accusations of failing to keep young users safe, and was fined in Europe for violating children's privacy protections.
The FTC began investigating potential COPPA violations by TikTok earlier this year, sources told CNN at the time. Friday's lawsuit was filed by the Justice Department following a referral from the Federal Trade Commission.
“TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated children’s privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement Friday.
A TikTok spokesperson responded to the allegations.
“We disagree with these allegations, many of which refer to past events and practices that are either factually inaccurate or have been addressed,” TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes said in a statement. “We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to update and improve the platform. To that end, we offer age-appropriate experiences with strict safeguards, proactively remove users suspected of being underage, and have voluntarily launched features like default screentime limits, Family Pairing, and additional privacy protections for minors.”
