Excerpt from News Arena India Article, Published on July 10, 2025
The European Union has launched a fresh privacy investigation into TikTok as concerns deepen over the social app’s handling of European user data, particularly regarding transfers to China. TikTok, owned by ByteDance, is now under intense regulatory scrutiny after Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC)—the country’s leading privacy watchdog—revealed that European user data had, in fact, been stored on Chinese servers, despite earlier assurances from the company.
This new inquiry is a direct follow-up to a previous investigation that resulted in a massive €530 million fine against TikTok for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DPC stated that TikTok’s actions raised critical issues about transparency and the safeguarding of user information. Notably, the company first insisted that data was merely accessed remotely by staff in China, only to later confirm that some data had indeed been stored there.
Under GDPR, strict rules govern the transfer of EU user data to countries outside of the bloc—especially nations like China, which do not have equivalent data protection standards.
TikTok is now required to demonstrate whether it implemented adequate safeguards to protect European user data. With over 1.5 billion users worldwide, TikTok’s compliance posture has significant implications for social platforms operating in the region.
The DPC’s renewed probe aims to clarify whether TikTok’s data transfers were lawful and compliant with GDPR, especially after the company’s earlier submission of inaccurate information regarding data storage locations. Regulators remain particularly concerned about whether the privacy rights of European users are being prioritized—or compromised—in the face of global operations.
To delve deeper into this topic, Read the News Arena India article.
