TikTok: EU DPAs warn TikTok following announcement on the legal basis for targeted advertising

TikTok is facing a fresh round of regulatory complaints in Europe regarding child safety and privacy complaints.

TikTok tried to switch legal basis for targeting advertising at users in Europe and planned the update on 13th July 2022:

"From 13 July 2022 TikTok will rely on its "legitimate interests" as its legal basis to use on-TikTok activity to personalise the ads of users who are 18 or over." - Tiktok

11 July 2022, Italian DPA the Garante warns TikTok legitimate interest is inadequate for targeted ads.

12 July 2022, Spanish DPA AEPD initiated an "ex officio" investigation into TikTok Technology Limited, following Tiktok's announcement that the processing of personal data for targeted advertising would be based on legitimate interests, rather than the consent of data subjects.

Then TikTok "pauses" privacy policy switch in Europe after regulatory scrutiny:

"We are pausing the changes described in this article until further notice." - Tiktok

"While we engage on the questions from stakeholders about our proposed personalised advertising changes in Europe, we are pausing the introduction of that part of our privacy policy update. We believe that personalised advertising provides the best in-app experience for our community and brings us in line with industry practices, and we look forward to engaging with stakeholders and addressing their concerns." - Tiktok spokesperson.

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Reference:

https://www.tiktok.com/legal/changes-to-personalised-advertising-in-the-eea?lang=en https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/9788342#english https://twitter.com/AEPD_es/status/1546818248301330432 https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/11/tiktok-privacy-switch-warning-italy/ https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/12/tiktok-pauses-privacy-policy-switch/?guccounter=1