Irish-bound TikTok facing further privacy probes

French authorities have opened a fresh probe into the policies of social media app TikTok

A further probe has been opened into the privacy policies of popular social media videoing app, TikTok.

The Chinese-owned company, which last week said it plans to open its first European data centre in Ireland, as part of a €420m investment, is already under pressure in the US, over concerns of Chinese government control and risks to user data.

Now, France’s privacy watchdog has opened a probe into TikTok, which is owned by Chinese internet technology group, ByteDance.

The French authority, CNIL, is looking at a number of issues, including how the company communicates with users and the protection of children. The questions are part of an investigation into TikTok’s plan to set up an EU headquarters for data purposes.

In June, the EU’s data-protection chiefs  pledged to co-ordinate potential investigations into the Chinese company, establishing a taskforce to get a better understanding of “TikTok’s processing and practices across the EU”. 

The EU taskforce would also likely give the final decision on the plans by the company to set up its EU base for data purposes in Ireland. 

This could mean that future probes would be led by the Irish data authority, which is already the lead privacy regulator for tech giants, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

The CNIL also said it had closed a separate probe, based on a TikTok user’s complaint.

CNIL said that for TikTok to set up  headquarters in Ireland, it would need to prove that its base there fulfills the necessary conditions under the bloc’s data-protection rules.

In May, the Dutch data-protection commission said  that it is looking into TikTok’s policies to protect children’s data; in June,  the Danish watchdog also announced a probe. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has been looking into TikTok since last year.

TikTok is also under increasing pressure in the US: President Donald Trump said he would ban the app, best-known for lip-syncing videos, on the grounds that it jeopardises national security. 

Microsoft is in talks to acquire the operations of TikTok in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

The company has rejected claims that it’s controlled by the Chinese government or that user data is at risk.

The 27-nation EU has some of the strictest data-protection laws in the world. The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, gives EU authorities the power to fine companies as much as 4% of global annual sales for the most serious violations.