TikTok agrees to settle $92 million class-action lawsuit | News | DW

TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has agreed to pay $ 92 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging an invasion of the privacy of its users.

A lawsuit filed in the Illinois District Court on Friday asked the judge to agree to the settlement. This also means that TikTok is more open about the data it collects from users and trains its employees about user privacy.

The China-based company, which owns TikTok, a short video sharing app, agreed to reach an agreement after more than a year of litigation.

“While we disagree with the allegations instead of engaging in lengthy litigation, we want to focus our efforts on creating a safe and fun experience for the TikTok community,” TikTok said in a statement emailed Thursday.

The deal was reached after “an expert-led look at the TikTok source code” and extensive mediation efforts in accordance with the request for approval of the deal.

Illinois is the only state in the United States where individuals can seek monetary damages for such authorized data collection.

What were the allegations?

“The TikTok app infiltrates its users’ devices and extracts a wide range of private data, including biometrics and content, that are used by defendants to track and profile TikTok users for purposes such as promoting ad targeting and profitability,” said the Illinois attorneys filing.

The lawsuit alleged that TikTok violated the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act, which allows lawsuits against companies that retrieve consumer information without consent, including by scanning faces and fingerprints.

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  Why the hype about TikTok rival Kuaishou?

  Hong Kong high flyer

  What a day for the Chinese video app Kuaishou. The company watched on Friday as the value of its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange tripled after an initial public offering of $ 5.4 billion. It was the largest IPO by an internet company in nearly two years.

• 
  

  Why the hype about TikTok rival Kuaishou?

  Watched closely

  Kuaishou’s standout debut, backed by Tencent, comes in the last few months as Chinese authorities crack down on tech companies. The company’s performance on Friday will no doubt be a token of encouragement for TikTok owner ByteDance, which is planning its own listing.

• 
  

  Why the hype about TikTok rival Kuaishou?

  Better than TikTok?

  At the very least, Kuaishou is a very versatile app. Among other things, you can watch videos and share small virtual gifts, tips and stickers. Investors believe the app is well suited to tapping China’s rural markets and smaller cities. Kuaishou makes most of its money in live streaming ecommerce.

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  Why the hype about TikTok rival Kuaishou?

  Big income, no profit

  Kuaishou reported sales of 40.7 billion yuan ($ 6.3 billion) for the nine months to September 2020. While the company’s sales seem impressive, the company is still struggling to make a profit. But Kuaishou expects to be profitable soon.

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  Why the hype about TikTok rival Kuaishou?

  Users galore

  The Kuaishou app (Kuaishou actually means “quick hands”) has at least 260 million users. It aims to become “the world’s most customer-obsessed company”. This would be a huge accomplishment as the company humbly started in 2012 offering a mobile app for making GIF animation.

  Author: Hardy Graupner

Lawyers also accused TikTok of storing or sending data to China, where ByteDance is headquartered.

TikTok has denied any misuse of data and has insisted that the data remain on users’ devices and that only anonymous tags be used to identify faces, the company said in legal filings.

US government pressure

Lawyers told the judge that ByteDance had been motivated to settle down due to pressure from US officials to sell TikTok.

US President Joe Biden has given up his predecessor’s plans to sell TikTok to US giant Oracle. Trump had accused TikTok and other Chinese apps of posing a national security risk due to its alleged connections to the Beijing government. His executive action banning TikTok downloads has encountered legal challenges.

TikTok defended itself against these allegations and stored user information on servers in the US and Singapore.

The video sharing app is very popular in the US, with an estimated 100 million users in the country.

Lawyers estimated the comparison would apply to TikTok users in the United States. Most of them would be entitled to payouts of 96 cents each if they made all claims for settlement money, a file said.

adi / sms (AFP, Reuters)