Little Falls mom suing TikTok over data collection from 9-year-old daughter
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LITTLE FALLS, Minn. (FOX 9) - A woman from Little Falls, Minnesota, is part of a lawsuit filed against TikTok that alleges the company violated federal laws regarding data collection of minors when it allowed her daughter to create an account at 9 years old, then targeted ads at her.
Little Falls mom TikTok lawsuit
What we know:
Filed on Feb. 21, a lawsuit on behalf of Katherine Walters brings a class action complaint against ByteDance, Inc. – the overarching owner of TikTok, Ltd.
The popular social media app allows its users to create videos, then upload them to its platform and garner communication from other users in the form of both comments and "likes" (known as "hearts").
The lawsuit says that TikTok "failed to disclose that it collects and sells personally identifiable information of millions of minor children, without the consent of the minors or their parents, including, but not limited to: name, age, image, email, phone number, address, "approximate" location and contacts."
It also collects messages sent to and received from other TikTok users, and info for payments such as credit card numbers, the lawsuit says.
In doing this, the lawsuit alleges that TikTok has "repeatedly and persistently violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) which requires the platform to provide parental notice, and receive consent, prior to collecting the personal information.
Protecting children online
The backstory:
Established in 1998, COPPA is a federal statute and regulation that protects children’s privacy and safety online.
Congress passed COPPA in response to concerns that children’s online activities were being tracked, with the intent of "maintaining the security of personally identifiable information of children collected" and to "protect children’s privacy by limiting the collection of info from children without parental consent."
Under COPPA, any operator of a website or online service directed to children that is collecting or maintaining personal information from a child under the age of 13 is required to notify them of the info it collects, and how it uses such information, plus receive consent to collect it.
TikTok’s popularity among school kids
Big picture view:
TikTok’s predecessor Musical.ly launched in 2014.
As Musical.ly was gaining popularity among elementary school kids in the U.S., Beijing-based ByteDance created TikTok in 2017.
On Nov. 9, 2017, ByteDance purchased Musical.ly for nearly $1 billion, and on Aug. 2, 2018, the two merged and consolidated their data into one application.
Using TikTok
Dig deeper:
When users create a TikTok account, TikTok uses an "age gate" and requires that they provide their birthday.
Since March 2019, if a child enters a birthday that indicates they are 13 years old or over, they are provided with a "regular" TikTok account. But if a birthday indicates that they are younger than that, they are provided with a "TikTok For Younger Users" or "Kids Mode" account.
TikTok does not notify parents or obtain parental consent for Kids Mode accounts, the lawsuit says, arguing that TikTok’s "age gate" is insufficient, and other than asking for a user’s birthday, makes no other attempt during the sign-in process to verify the user’s age.
Until at least May 2022, TikTok also allowed consumers to avoid the "age gate" when creating an account by allowing consumers to use login credentials from third-party online services, including Instagram and Google, the lawsuit says.
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TikTok’s alleged violations
Revenues and targeted ads:
In January 2024, TikTok reported that it had approximately 170 million monthly active users in the U.S. and earned $16 billion in revenue the year prior.
The lawsuit alleges the platform "knowingly enriched revenues and profits from unjustly and illegally collecting and using the personal info of children under the age of 13 to build profiles and target advertisements to children." Those targeted ads actively violate COPPA, the lawsuit says.
In August 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint alleging that TikTok was actively violating the COPPA rules.
Class action lawsuit
What's next:
The class action petition says it is seeking more than $5 million, with more than 100 people involved in the litigation, on behalf of at least one person from each U.S. state.
The Source: A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Feb. 21, 2025.