The Norwegian Data Protection Authority (DPA) has claimed that TikTok continues to transfer users’ personal data to China, after users received a notice on how their data is processed.
“This week, Norwegian TikTok users received a notice about how the company processes their personal data. The company informs them that they will continue the practice of transferring personal data to China,” DPA alleged in a written statement on Friday.
This means personal data of Norwegian and European users will remain accessible to TikTok employees in China, according to the statement.
“The practice could have negative consequences for privacy since Chinese legislation could potentially require that the data be shared with Chinese authorities. At the same time, it is difficult to predict whether this data will actually be handed over to Chinese authorities in the future,” said DPA’s section head Tobias Judin.
TikTok has yet to comment on the claims.
In May, TikTok was hit with a €530 million ($601 million) fine by Irish data protection authorities for breaching European privacy rules, marking it one of the largest penalties ever imposed under the General Data Protection Regulation.
The ruling followed a lengthy investigation by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, which found TikTok violated the regulation by transferring European users’ personal data to China, where it was accessed by engineers.
TikTok said it would appeal the decision and warned the ruling could have sweeping consequences for other global companies handling cross-border data flows.