After ByteDance, the operator of TikTok, had to pay a settlement payment of 5.7 million US dollars to the US trade authority FTC last year due to a lack of data protection, the company now appears to be taking the first steps to optimise the protection of minors. To this end, TikTok is introducing a minimum age of 16 years for the use of direct messages as of April 30. The minimum age for using the app is 13 years.
Adolescents affected by the change will receive a notification within the app and will be able to export their chats. After April 30th, access to the news archive is also no longer possible until the respective user is 16 years old. However, as there is no age verification, children can simply specify any age at registration to circumvent the lockout.
Parents can connect to their children’s app. This is done by scanning a QR code, which can be found in the settings under “Digital Wellbeing/Privacy” and “Settings/Companion Mode”. After the scan, the apps are connected and the child “agrees” that parents can regulate TikTok usage. However, the parents do not have an insight into the content.
Even though TikTok and ByteDance are taking new ways to protect children and teenagers, there will be many who simply cheat on their birthday entries and circumvent the restrictions on using the platform or direct messages. Only a closer examination would help here, although this is unlikely to be possible due to the masses of users.
