Canadian privacy commissioners at the Federal and provincial levels are joining together to launch an investigation into popular social media platform TikTok .
A release from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or OPC on Thursday said the joint investigation of the short-form video streaming application will also involve privacy commissioners of the provinces of Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia.
The regulators will “examine whether the organization’s practices are in compliance with Canadian privacy legislation and in particular, whether valid and meaningful consent is being obtained for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.”
In addition, the investigation will also “determine if the company is meeting its transparency obligations, particularly when collecting personal information from its users.” The announcement came as there is greater scrutiny of the app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, particularly over law enacted by Beijing that compels Chinese companies to share information when demanded by the state.
TikTok was banned by India in 2020.
In December last year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had also expressed concern over the app, as he said at the time, “I think people are concerned about TikTok. I think people are obviously watching very carefully.”
The daily, the National Post, reported earlier this week that no Canadian Government agency is allowed to have a TikTok account.
The OPC release stated that among its focus groups will be “younger users.” It said it will look into the company’s “privacy practices as they relate to younger users, including whether the company obtained valid and meaningful consent from these users for the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information.”
TikTok, which is already being scrutinised by regulators in the United States and the European Union, said “the privacy and safety of the TikTok community, particularly our younger users, is always a top priority, and we are committed to operating with transparency to earn and maintain the trust of the many Canadians who create and find joy on our platform,” according to a spokesperson in Canada, cited by the agency Canadian Press.
