TikTok Privacy Settlement In The Works Following Illinois Lawsuit Based On Children's Privacy

Three years ago, discourse surfaced online about the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigating TikTok (when it was still named Musical.ly) in regards to the platform's alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) which monitors social media companies from illegally collecting personal information from children. Now, an Illinois lawsuit based on the violations might come to fruition, resulting in mass payouts on a nationwide scale.

Yesterday, American Twitter users took to the platform to reiterate that they'd received an email from TikTok that included a sum of money paid to them. Skeptical at first, many wondered if it was a scam, but it wasn't — it was related to the COPPA discourse from 2019.

Did anybody else get a email in regards to the TikTok Data Privacy Settlement or It’s giving scam ?

— THEE GLO GAWD 😮‍💨✨ (@hot_tottyyy) October 27, 2022

ayyeee tiktok lawsuit payout. i forgot this was even going on lmao pic.twitter.com/gKDsooXpta

— k¹²⁷🍰🧸 (@toastynakamoto) October 27, 2022

As stated, back in 2019, a class-action complaint was filed in Northern Illinois. Two mothers of young teenagers took action against Musical.ly (TikTok), alleging that "in a quest for profits" Musical.ly "surreptitiously tracked, collected and disclosed" the personal information and viewing data of children under the age of 13 without parental consent.

The FTC then announced this via a tweet sent on February 27th, 2019.

#BREAKING: https://t.co/rSX3SZaiCj, now known as TikTok, will pay $5.7 million to settle FTC allegations that the company illegally collected personal info from children in violation of Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (#COPPA): https://t.co/aIHr6bQjQp (1/4) #privacy pic.twitter.com/xuhbJiFEt7

— FTC (@FTC) February 27, 2019

According to lawyers for the suit, the settlement will distribute $1.1 million among class-action members. According to them, it's the "first of its kind." What also makes it special is that residents of Illinois aren't the only people eligible for compensation. "If you or your child used the Musical.ly and/or TikTok software application when under the age of 13, you may be entitled to a payment," the settlement website states.

Additionally, this $1.1 million lawsuit is not alone, as early this year, another lawsuit was activated specifically against TikTok that has a whopping $92 million payout. This lawsuit is predominantly the one surfacing in discourse in October 2022.

Despite every American's eligibility, the time frame to add one's name to both lawsuits is no longer active. Therefore, if you never added your name, you aren't getting any money.

However, due to the lawsuit being the first of its kind, that means there might be many more to come as social media companies continue to face increased scrutiny and pressure from both the government and the public.