The Office of the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, also referred to as the Data Protection Commission (DPC), is the independent regulator in charge of protecting the European Union’s rights of individuals to data privacy. The division was formed in 1989 and is responsible for monitoring compliance with data protection laws in Ireland.
According to recent reports by the DPC, TikTok has been fined a total of $368 million USD for violating privacy laws against children’s data during the July to December 2020 investigation period. The report further mentions that TikTok implemented dark patterns to trick users into choosing more privacy-intrusive options during registration.
Also included in the penalty was an order for the social media company to bring their processing into compliance within 3 months.