The UK Intelligence Commission (ICO) has launched an investigation into online platforms Tiktok, Reddit and Imgur to assess the measures they are taking in the country to protect children aged 13 to 17.
To that end, WatchDog said that the video sharing service owned by Batedo is using personal data from children in their age ranges to use surface recommendations and use proposed content in their feeds.
“This could contribute to inappropriate or harmful content by using data generated by children’s online activities in the recommended system in light of growing concerns about social media and video sharing platforms,” the ICO said.
Separately, the Data Protection Regulator said it is considering Imgur and Reddit to see how it uses children’s information and what measures it is taking to assess users’ age and the age of adjusted content based on that standard.
The ICO was looking into whether the service violates data protection laws and noted that, if any, evidence found, would be shared, if any, if any, to seek “expression” before reaching a final conclusion.
“The responsibility to keep children safe online lies firmly at the doors of businesses providing these services, and my office is adamant about their commitment to keeping them for explanation,” said British intelligence commissioner John Edwards.
“When publishing these studies, we are making public what we are currently taking to support information rights in children. This is a priority area and we provide updates on further actions that we decide to take.”
The development requires that online services follow a set of standards when using child data after enforcement of child code in September 2021.
Since then, X (formerly Twitter) has stopped offering ads to users under the age of 18, and has removed the ability for people under the age of 18 to opt-in to geolocation sharing. Viber also promises to disable personalized ads for kids.
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