US Justice Department sues TikTok, accusing company of illegally collecting children’s data

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, accusing the social media giant of unlawfully collecting and storing children’s data in violation of U.S. privacy laws.

In a civil consumer protection complaint filed Friday in California federal court, TikTok accuses itself of collecting a “broad range” of personal information from children who created accounts on the app from 2019 to the present.

SEE ALSO: TikTok sues federal government over potential U.S. ban

The department further alleges that even when children created accounts in TikTok’s designated “Kids Mode,” the company continued to unlawfully collect and store children’s email addresses and other personal information without notifying parents or obtaining their consent.

The alleged privacy violations “caused millions of children under the age of 13 to use the regular TikTok app, subjecting them to extensive data collection, interacting with adult users, and accessing adult content,” the department said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.