TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has agreed to a $ 92 million settlement to resolve collective lawsuits alleging that the company illegally collected and used personal data from underage TikTok users.
The proposed agreement (PDF) would require TikTok to pay up to $ 92 million to class members and change some of its data collection and disclosure processes in the future.
The lawsuit, which has accumulated more than 20 related lawsuits, most of which were filed on behalf of minors, alleged that TikTok violated state and federal privacy laws, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Privacy and Data Protection Act. Video, through the use of data.
TikTok uses “automated software, proprietary algorithms, AI, facial recognition and other technologies to commercially profit from” its users, the complaint claimed (PDF). The data that TikTok is supposed to collect, share and use for machine learning training is surprisingly profound, the process added, including user identities, unique identification information, biometric data and information, images, video and digital recordings, recordings of audio, clipboard data, geolocation, names, email addresses, passwords, social media accounts, messaging services, phone numbers and other private, non-public or confidential data and information. “
In addition, the suit cited concerns that the personal and private user data that TikTok collected might have been shared with Chinese government entities, echoing the concerns of the Trump administration in its failed attempts to ban TikTok from operating in the U.S.
TikTok denied any specific irregularity. “While we disagree with the claims, instead of going through a lengthy dispute, we would like to focus our efforts on building a safe and joyful experience for the TikTok community,” the company said in a statement.
Money to take – unless everyone asks
The lawyers representing the plaintiffs praised the agreement as “one of the largest ever reached” in such a case. Since your statement is true, it is much more condemning to the state of the United States’ privacy laws than complementing this particular case.
The total class, as defined in the agreement, includes 89 million users in the United States. Lawyers ask for a collective payment “not exceeding 33.33% of the settlement fund”, leaving $ 61 million for class members to collect. In addition, however, the proposed agreement is structured so that each member of the “national” class can claim one share, and Illinois users can claim six shares.
TikTok identified 1.4 million users who would qualify in the Illinois subclass, leaving some 87.6 million other members of the class across the country. According to the agreement, if all qualified members of the class filed a lawsuit, most users would expect to reap about $ 0.96 and Illinois users could earn up to $ 5.75.
In the lawsuit, however, lawyers make it clear that they do not expect a high percentage of the class to file lawsuits, instead describing likely payments for hypothetical 1.5 percent claim fees ($ 383.33 for Illinois , $ 63.89 for everyone else) to 20 percent ($ 28.75 for Illinois, $ 4.79 for everyone else) in the class.
Of course, money is not everything; Lawsuits like this class action also seek precautionary measures – that is, demanding that the company no longer do the bad thing. This agreement is no different. Under the proposed terms, TikTok will implement a “company-wide data privacy training initiative” to instruct employees and contractors to comply with data privacy laws.
As for the collection, storage and use of confidential data, TikTok does not actually say in the agreement that it will stop these activities, but says that it will update its privacy policies to ensure that these activities are disclosed more clearly “and in compliance with all laws applicable. “
A judge will have to approve the proposed agreement before it takes effect; the process should take several months.