TikTok Children’s Privacy Enforcement

U.

S. enforcement involving TikTok, ByteDance and predecessor Musical.ly concerns allegations that children’s personal information was collected without the parental consent required by COPPA. The history includes a 2019 FTC consent decree, later Department of Justice action and a $400 million settlement arrangement subject to judicial review. Proposed safeguards include collecting users’ dates of birth and using age-moderation systems. The proceedings also raise practical questions about how regulatory penalties and defense costs may be treated under cyber and management-liability insurance.