Canadian investigations have found that Tiktok’s efforts to stop children using the application and protect their personal data are insufficient.
Hundreds of thousands of children in the country use Tiktok every year although the company says it is not intended for people under the age of 13, according to the results.
The investigation also found that Tiktok collected sensitive personal information from a “large number” of Canadian children and used it to target online marketing and target content.
Tiktok BBC told that it would provide a number of measures to “strengthen our platform for Canadians” although it opposes some results.
The investigation was conducted by the Canada Privacy Commissioner, Philip Dofrynon, and privacy protection officials.
At a press conference to announce the results, Mr. Dufresne said that the very famous short video platform collects “wide” amounts of information from its users, including children.
“This data is used to target content and ads that users see, which can have harmful effects, especially on young people,” he added.
Mr. Dufresne said it is in response to the investigation, Tiktok agreed to enhance measures to stop children using the platform and more clearly refer to how their data is used.
In a statement, a Tiktok spokesman said he welcomed the investigation and that Canadian officials “agreed to a number of our proposals to strengthen our platform.”
“While we disagree with some results, we are still committed to preserving the practices of transparency and strong privacy,” they added.
The BBC asked the company to determine the results that were not approved.
Canadian investigation is the latest step by governments all over the world to audit the Tiktok effect on users as well as national security concerns about the Chinese ownership application.
The company has repeatedly denied such allegations.
In the United States, President Donald Trump was negotiating with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping about a deal that could see American Tijook operations by a group of American companies.
In 2023, employees working in the European Commission were ordered to remove the TIKTOK application from their phones and corporate devices.
The committee said it was carrying out the procedure to “protect data and increase cyberspace.”