Brazil: Announced National Data Protection Authority order to TikTok to implement age verification

On 4 November 2024, the Brazilian National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) initiated a sanctioning process and issued compliance orders to TikTok over the alleged irregular handling of children and adolescents' personal data. The ANPD's technical review found due to the absence of age verification mechanisms, TikTok was unable to verify whether users were under 13. The ANPD notes that the lack of the system led to improper data processing practices, which potentially violate Article 14 of Brazil's General Data Protection Law (LGPD). The LGPD prohibits the use of data to create advertising profiles for users under 13 years old. Without being able to verify whether users are under 13, TikTok could potentially be using this demographic's data to create these profiles. To remediate these concerns, TikTok has been instructed to disable the "feed without registration" feature, which allows minors to use the platform without age verification, within 10 business days, and submit a compliance plan within 20 business days to strengthen age verification and account deletion protocols and ensure parental oversight for minors during registration.