“The risks extend beyond privacy,” the organization said
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has called on the government to urgently amend privacy law at the federal level following the results of an investigation into social media platform TikTok.
The investigation was jointly conducted by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta. Findings showed that TikTok’s measures to limit the access of underage users to the platform were generally ineffective.
Moreover, the investigation revealed that TikTok’s consent policies were inadequate; underage users who made it onto the platform before being removed had their information collected and used for ads targeting. The privacy commissioners determined that TikTok was using children’s personal information “with no legitimate need or bona fide interest” and concluded that its practices were “inappropriate.”
Moreover, a demonstration of TikTok’s advertising portal revealed that advertisers could target users who identified as transgender; even though the company said such a function was impossible, it reportedly could not explain why it was available.
Sensitive personal data obtained by TikTok from both adult and young users included health, political opinions, gender identity, and sexual orientation. The platform also incorporated biometric technology like facial and voice analytics to guess the age and gender of users for targeted ads and tailored content recommendations.
Users were not adequately informed of TikTok’s data collection practices and were thus unable to provide valid consent; in addition, intrusive data collection practices were activated by default instead of giving users the option to agree to them.
“When powerful digital platforms collect sensitive data about children and youth, profile them, and target them with ads and content without valid consent, the risks extend beyond privacy,” the CCLA said in a statement.
The organization explained that urgent privacy law reform was necessary to incentivize platforms “to proactively comply with their privacy obligations.”
