Canada’s federal privacy watchdog has launched a joint investigation with three provincial counterparts into the controversial social media application TikTok.
The federal privacy commissioner announced Thursday that their office will join privacy watchdogs in Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta to “jointly investigate the short-form video streaming application,” a post on the federal watchdog’s website said.
“The investigation was initiated in the wake of now settled, class action lawsuits in the United States and Canada, as well as numerous media reports related to TikTok’s collection, use and disclosure of personal information,” it went on to say.
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The regulators intend to dig into whether TikTok’s practices are “in compliance” with Canadian privacy legislation and whether “meaningful consent is being obtained for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.”
“The investigation will also determine if the company is meeting its transparency obligations, particularly when collecting personal information from its users,” the statement continued.
The investigation will also have a special focus on the younger users who tend to dominate the application’s use in Canada.
The move comes as Canadian MPs are set to launch a probe of their own into security concerns about the popular social media application.
The House of Commons ethics committee voted earlier this month to undertake a study into TikTok and other social media platforms’ use “of private information of Canadians for the objective of data harvesting.”
The crux of the concern comes down to TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
The company has faced criticism from those who warn that the Chinese government could access user data, such as browsing history and location.
That’s because China has a law that requires private companies to co-operate with Beijing if asks.
— More to come
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