抖音海外版 英國惹上事

抖音海外版T ikT ok惹事了？字節跳動公司的抖音海外版短視頻應用T ikT ok正在接受英國監管部門調查，因為該短視頻應用涉及兒童安全問題。英國監管部門正在調查其如何處理其年輕用戶的個人數據，以及它是否在其社交網絡上優先考慮兒童的安全。

信息專員伊麗莎白·德納姆(E lizabethD enham)向議會委員會表示，調查始於2月份，“我們正在研究該應用完全開放的信息系統，以及其兒童用戶在線收集和分享的視頻。”

專員還表示，人們對開放的信息系統允許任何成年人向任何兒童發送信息感到擔憂。

她表示，該公司可能違反了《通用數據保護條例》(generaldataprotectionregu-lation，G D P R )，該條例“要求該公司為兒童提供不同的服務和不同的保護”。

今 年2月 ，擁 有T ikT ok的中國公司字節跳動(B ytedance)因非法收集13歲以下兒童的個人信息而被處以創紀錄的420萬英鎊(合570萬美元)罰款。FT C表示，該公司此前已意識到，“很大一部分用戶年齡在13歲以下”，據悉，該應用曾收到了來自父母的數千份投訴，稱他們13歲以下的孩子在視頻應用上隨意上傳視頻，而13歲是美國法律規定嚴格保護數據的年齡。

儘管如此，F T C主席 喬·西 蒙 斯( J o eS imons)表示，“在收集13歲以下用戶的姓名、電子郵件地址和其他個人信息之前，他們仍然沒有征求家長的同意。”

總部位於北京的初創企業字節跳動(B ytedance)估值750億 美 元 ，主 要 基 於T ikT ok及其中國同行抖音(D ouyin)的非凡增長。這款應用結合了音樂和基於表情包的幽默，深受青少年和學齡前兒童的歡迎。

抖音和T ikT ok的巨大流量還體現在其對歌曲流行的助推力上。除了在中國孕育了眾多“抖音神曲”外，T ik T o k也步其後塵——今年4月，L il N a s X的單曲《O ldT ow n R oad》在社交網絡上被廣泛使用，時長15秒，一夜成名。短視頻應用上的巨大流量和使用人次讓這首歌登上了美國公告牌百強單曲榜的榜首。

據悉，該應用可能被處以高達2000萬歐元(1790萬英鎊)的罰款，或者是總收入的4%的罰款金額，以更高的金額為準。作為一家私營公司，字節跳動不需要披露收入，所以罰款可能會有多高目前仍不得而知。

T ikT o k在一份聲明中表示：“我們與IC O等組織合作，提供有關我們產品的相關信息，以支持他們的工作。確保數據保護原則是T ikT ok的首要任務。”

南都記者 張沛 實習生 譚潔

綜合整理自The Guardian

TikTok under investigation over child data use

UK inquiry looking at whether video-sharing app breaches data protection law

The video-sharing app TikTok is under investigation in the UK for how it handles the personal data of its young users， and whether it prioritises the safety of children on its social network.

Elizabeth Denham， the information commissioner， told a parliamentary committee the investigation began in February， prompted by？a multimillion-dollar fine？from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for similar violations.

“We are looking at the transparency tools for children，” Denham said on Tuesday. “We’re looking at the messaging system， which is completely open， we’re looking at the kind of videos that are collected and shared by children online. We do have an active investigation into TikTok right now， so watch this space.”

As well as general concerns about how private data was collected， the commissioner said there were concerns about how the open messaging system allowed any adult to message any child.

She said the company was potentially violating the general data protection regulation (GDPR) which “requires the company to provide different services and different protections for children”.

In February， Bytedance， the Chinese firm that owns TikTok， was fined a record ($5.7m) ￡4.2m for illegally collecting personal information from children under 13. The FTC said the company had previously been aware that “a significant percentage of users were younger than 13”， the age at which US laws mandate strict data protections， “and received thousands of complaints from parents that their children under 13 had created Musical.ly accounts”. Musical.ly was the previous name of TikTok.

Despite that， the FTC’s chair， Joe Simons， said， “they still failed to seek parental consent before collecting names， email addresses and other personal information from users under the age of 13”.

Bytedance， a private startup based in Beijing， has a valuation of $75bn， based primarily on the extraordinary growth of TikTok and its Chinese equivalent， Douyin. The app is popular among teenagers and preteens for its combination of music and meme-based humour.

In April， Lil Nas X found fame overnight when his track Old Town Road was used extensively on 15-sec clips on the social network. That enthusiasm took the artist to？the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

A company can be fined up to ￡17.9m， or 4% of revenue， whichever is higher， for violating the？GDPR. As a private company， Bytedance does not have to disclose revenue so it is unknown how high such a fine could be.

In a statement， TikTok said：？“We cooperate with organizations such as the ICO to provide relevant information about our product to support their work. Ensuring data protection principles are upheld as a top priority for TikTok.”