Shorouk Express
TikTok has been given six months to bring its data processing practices in line with the EU’s privacy rules, or suspend all data transfers to the country.
TikTok said it “strongly contest[s]” the Irish DPC’s findings and plans to appeal in full.
“Beyond the DPC’s failure to substantively consider the extensive safeguards [already implemented by Tiktok], we are disappointed to have been singled out despite relying on the same legal mechanism employed by thousands of other companies providing services in Europe,” said Christine Grahn, TikTok’s head of public policy and government relations for Europe, in a written statement.
TikTok pointed to its €12 billion investment in Project Clover, which is rolling out data centers in Europe to store data locally in the EU, as well as other privacy safeguards. The Irish DPC acknowledged the project but said it was not enough to sway its decision.
Grahn emphasized that TikTok has “never received a request for European user data from the Chinese authorities, and has never provided European user data to them.”
She said that the Irish DPC ruling “risks setting a precedent with far-reaching consequences for companies and entire industries across Europe that operate on a global scale,” and “delivers a blow to the European Union’s competitiveness.”
