Privacy Commissioners Find Tiktok Collected Sensitive Data From Children

Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago

_p2zi

83 points

23 comments

priv.gc.caTechstory

calmmixed

Debate

70/100

PrivacyData CollectionSocial Media Regulation

Key topics

Privacy

Data Collection

Social Media Regulation

Canada's Privacy Commissioners found TikTok collected sensitive data from children, sparking discussion on privacy laws and the need for consistent regulation across social media platforms.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

Discussion Activity

Moderate engagement

First comment

44m

Peak period

1-2h

Avg / period

3.3

Comment distribution23 data points

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Based on 23 loaded comments

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01Story posted
Sep 23, 2025 at 3:37 PM EDT
3 months ago
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02First comment
Sep 23, 2025 at 4:21 PM EDT
44m after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
8 comments in 1-2h
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04Latest activity
Sep 23, 2025 at 10:39 PM EDT
3 months ago
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Discussion (23 comments)

Showing 23 comments

yabones

3 months ago

2 replies

I hope that this is used to strengthen privacy laws. But I know this will be used as pretext to enforce dubious "age verification" like we've seen in other countries.

SV_BubbleTime

3 months ago

1 reply

It was hilarious how fast UK changed “online safety act” to <insert liocense fer ‘at joke>.

Just send your face and details to anonymous companies prone to data leaks just to hear songs with naughty words! See Spotify is too dangerous for children!

Post anything about the issues with immigration in the UK? That is straight to jail territory now, and they know just where to find you.

I’m not joking. I want to know what happened to the people that created the British empire. What was at one point the most wealthy and successful nation on the planet. Where are those people?

Our_Benefactors

3 months ago

1 reply

They all emigrated to the USA

dylan604

3 months ago

Where'd they go next, because the USofA is leading the charge

reactordev

3 months ago

Chat control

daedrdev

3 months ago

2 replies

It's clear every site on the internet without id checks (and even those who do check id since people can lie) are accessed by minors, I'm not sure what they expect.

ajjahs

3 months ago

1 reply

this stuff is always pushed by people with either no technical understanding at all or just bad intentions

dylan604

3 months ago

Not sure why this was marked dead when it's not wrong. The people in Congress/Parliament are not the most tech savvy people, and pretty much just do what their lobbyists recommend even if they don't understand the full implications.

criddell

3 months ago

They are collecting this data in order to use it for advertising. Google, Meta, and TikTok know a crazy amount about the people they are tracking. There’s no way they don’t know (or couldn’t make a great guess) about the age.

YC636482376

3 months ago

1 reply

What kind of "sensitive data"? The page does not provide any details. Something as basic as an IP address could be considered "sensitive data" but collecting that is basically inevitable.

_p2ziAuthor

3 months ago

1 reply

Check this out: https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/news-and-announcements/20...

bloomingeek

3 months ago

I read this link with sadness. We all know that we can't trust any online social media with anything. But to store children's data in below the bar. (Oh, wait, these companies believe the bar is whatever they want it to be.)

mig39

3 months ago

3 replies

I hope they will apply the same standard to other social media companies.

And while they're at it, they should take a look at the data that Google collects from kids using Chrome and Chromebooks.

dylan604

3 months ago

1 reply

> I hope they will apply the same standard to other social media companies.

So a weak fine that is rolled into cost of doing business expense? AKA nothing.

iinnPP

3 months ago

1 reply

They can't fine at the OPC, they can't even force action. Though sometimes that is a good thing as it opened up some room for class actions, in Ontario at least.

dylan604

3 months ago

Sure, but that's missing the point. Nothing will be the result. So in this case, somebody won't be lining their pockets with a nothing burger fine. So less than nothing is the result.

jeffbee

3 months ago

1 reply

Google's claims in this area seem simple and strong. What are you suggesting?

"Google will only access, use, and otherwise process Customer Data in accordance with the Cloud Data Processing Addendum and will not access, use, or process Customer Data for any other purpose. Without limiting the generality of the preceding sentence, Google will not process Customer Data for Advertising purposes or serve Advertising in the Services. Google has implemented and will maintain technical, organizational, and physical safeguards to protect Customer Data, as further described in the Cloud Data Processing Addendum."

mig39

3 months ago

1 reply

I read this earlier this year:

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/google-hit-with-pri...

But I'm certain there were more similar suits in the USA. I don't think there's been one in Canada.

jeffbee

3 months ago

I don't know if you already knew this but in America anyone can file a complaint that says just about anything. Here, to balance out your link, is the other party's reply. https://edtech.law/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2025.07.14-Goo...

hsbauauvhabzb

3 months ago

I wish that the collection of data were toxic just in case you accidentally collect the data of a child. I’d happily let chrome think i were a six year old if it meant they wouldn’t abuse their market position to steal user data.

yupyupyups

3 months ago

No shit.

sandworm101

3 months ago

Don't underestimate the power of this decision. Canada has been at the forefront of many internet/privacy polices over the last thirty years. Countries all over the world are dealing with similar questions. So they form committees to figure out policy, committees which boil down to people. Those people say, well, if it good enough for Canada then its probably good enough for us too.

Some of this is based on Canada's political/judicial system being more similar to international norms. Canada doesn't have the strange state/federal split of the US. Nor does it have the unwritten "constitution" of the UK. So European/Asian countries can more easily translate Canadian policy this into their systems. The IT companies appreciate this too. They will want to strike a deal in Canada because that deal will very likely be mirrored elsewhere. This finding and resulting deals will have great impact.

ncr100

3 months ago

Soon Oracle will be collecting private information from children.

Gross and appropriate.

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ID: 45351737Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 12:44:40 PM

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