TikTok in Hot Water Again as EU Privacy Watchdog Files Fresh GDPR Complaint
TikTok is under fresh scrutiny after a leading privacy rights group filed a new complaint against the social media giant and two other Chinese-owned companies, alleging violations of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
On Thursday, Austria-based campaign organisation Noyb (None of Your Business) announced that it had lodged updated complaints with data protection authorities in Greece (against TikTok), Belgium (against AliExpress), and the Netherlands (against WeChat), citing their failure to properly respond to users’ data access requests.
“All three tech companies have failed to comply with access requests… This makes it impossible for European users to exercise their fundamental right to privacy, to find out how their personal data is being processed,” Noyb said in its statement.
The group explained that while companies like Shein, Temu, and Xiaomi had responded to prior complaints by supplying additional information, TikTok, AliExpress, and WeChat “continued to violate” GDPR obligations.
Specifically, Noyb said TikTok only delivered part of a complainant’s personal data, “in an unstructured form that was impossible to understand,” which it argued amounts to non-compliance with the law.
TikTok has not yet responded to AFP’s request for comment.
The latest legal move follows Noyb’s original filing in January, where it accused six Chinese-owned companies of unlawfully transferring the personal data of European users to China. The organisation urged authorities to impose fines and compel full compliance with GDPR rules.
Just last May, TikTok was fined €530 million ($610 million) by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) for transferring personal data to China—though the company claimed the information was accessed remotely and not stored illegally.
The Irish DPC acts as TikTok’s lead regulator within the European Union, as the company’s EU headquarters are based in Ireland.
Western governments have long raised alarms over the potential misuse of personal data by Chinese firms for surveillance, propaganda, or espionage. These concerns have led to increased scrutiny of TikTok and other China-based platforms across the EU and the U.S.
Noyb, known for its aggressive pursuit of data protection enforcement, has previously filed successful GDPR complaints against U.S. tech giants including Meta and Google. In its statement on Thursday, the group said bluntly:
“Chinese apps are even worse than US providers.”
Founded in 2018 following the enactment of the GDPR, Noyb has positioned itself as a watchdog for digital rights across Europe.
Last week, Beijing pushed back against the wave of international concern, denying that it instructs companies to “illegally” collect or store users’ personal information.
CHANNELS
