TikTok fined €530m for breaching EU user data protection

The Irish data protection regulator has fined TikTok owner ByteDance for failing to comply with the GDPR. The main violation was not sufficiently restricting access by Chinese employees to European users' data.

Tech May 6, 2025 0 7 Add to Reading List

TikTok fined €530m for breaching EU user data protection

The Irish Data Protection Commission has fined TikTok owner ByteDance €530 million for violating the EU's GDPR, the country's data protection law. According to Reuters , the commission found that ByteDance failed to prove that it restricted Chinese employees' access to EU user data. European law requires data to be stored in the region, and the company is required to bring its data processing into compliance with EU laws within six months.

ByteDance said it would appeal the decision, arguing that the commission had failed to take into account the security measures it introduced in 2023. The company stressed that it had implemented additional security measures since 2023, including independent access controls and storing EU user data in data centers in Europe and the US. TikTok also said it had never handed over European user data to Chinese authorities and had never received any such requests. “This decision could set a precedent with far-reaching implications for companies and entire industries across Europe that operate on a global scale,” TikTok said in a statement.

TikTok has a user base of around 175 million in Europe. This is not the first major fine for ByteDance from the DPC: in 2023, the company paid €345 million for violations in the processing of minors' data.