The Italian Data Protection Authority (“DPA”) issued a formal warning on July 7th, 2022 to TikTok, who announced its revision on privacy policy to be effective since July 13th, 2022 regarding targeted advertising.
Back in June 2022, TikTok informed its users that it would start showing users above age 18 personalized advertisements based on the users’ behavior on the APP, by relying on “legitimate interests” but not “consent” from users anymore. Soon after this announcement, the Italian DPA requested the video platform for more information and after a preliminary investigation, the Italian DPA determined that such future change of legal basis for targeted advertising would be in violation of the E-Privacy Directive and the Italian Data Protection Code, which provide that non-technical cookies may only be processed if users gave their consent and that profiling based on behavioral pattern on social media cannot rely on legitimate interest as legal basis.
The Italian DPA also expresses concern about the protection of minor users of the risk related to children’s exposure to inappropriate ads and unsuitable content, as the Italian DPA has previously found that TikTok’s age verification measures were inadequate.
Following the formal warning, TikTok has suspended its original plan for change of legal basis and continues to obtain consent for targeted advertisements to users above eighteen years old. Nevertheless, the Italian DPA expressed that it is open to a dialogue aimed at balancing the data protection rights of individuals and TikTok’s economic interests.
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