China Denies Data Access After TikTok Hit with €530M EU Fine, Plans to Appeal
TikTok disputes the EU's findings and intends to challenge the fine legally
China has denied accessing data from companies operating overseas following a massive fine imposed on TikTok by the European Union (EU) for mishandling European user data.
The Chinese foreign ministry stated that China “has never and will never require enterprises or individuals to collect or store data by illegal means” and called on the EU and Ireland to provide a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for companies.
The EU fined TikTok 530 million euros ($600 million) for transferring personal data of European users to China without adequately safeguarding it from potential access by Chinese authorities.
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), the lead EU regulator for TikTok, found that TikTok failed to demonstrate that the data accessed remotely by employees in China was protected at a level equivalent to EU standards.
The investigation also highlighted concerns about Chinese laws related to counter-espionage and anti-terrorism that could allow authorities access to the data.
Read More: EU Fines TikTok €530 Million Over Data Privacy Breach Linked to China Access
TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, strongly disagreed with the findings, asserting that it has never received a request from Chinese authorities for European user data and has never provided such data to them. The company said it uses the EU’s legal framework, including standard contractual clauses, to tightly regulate and limit remote access to data.
TikTok plans to appeal the EU decision and emphasised that the ruling concerns a period before it began implementing its Project Clover data localisation initiative in Europe.
