Khaberni -An Irish regulatory body concerned with protecting the privacy of European Union data announced on Thursday that it has initiated an investigation into TikTok regarding the transfer of personal data of European users to servers in China.
The Data Protection Commission had fined TikTok 530 million euros ($620 million) last May due to the transfer of personal data to China, despite the Chinese social media giant's assurances that access to this data was only remote.
The Data Protection Commission announced on Thursday that it was informed by TikTok last April that "limited data of users from the European Economic Area had indeed been stored on servers in China," contrary to the evidence presented by the company.
The regulatory authority added that it has expressed "deep concern" in its previous investigation that "TikTok had provided inaccurate information".
However, since its European headquarters is located in Ireland, the Irish authority is the main regulatory body in Europe for this social platform and other companies like Google, Meta, and Apple.
The Personal Data Protection Authority is tasked with monitoring companies' compliance with the European Union's stringent General Data Protection Regulation, launched in 2018 to protect European consumers from personal data breaches.
The authority has imposed hefty fines on technology companies, as part of the European Union's efforts to regulate major technology companies concerning privacy, competition, misinformation, and taxes.
