Ireland · Privacy · 2 May 2025

TikTok fined €530m over staff in China accessing European users' data

€530 million fine (€485m for transfers, €45m for transparency), plus an order to suspend transfers to China if not fixed

Company: TikTok
Regulator or court: Irish Data Protection Commission
Law: GDPR, Articles 46(1) (international transfers) and 13(1)(f) (transparency)
Status: Under appeal (High Court upheld the breach finding in June 2026 but sent the corrective orders back to the DPC; ruling on the fine not yet published)

What happened

Staff in China could remotely access data about European TikTok users, and TikTok could not show that the data was protected to EU standards there. Its privacy notice also failed, until late 2022, to tell users that their data was reachable from China. The DPC ordered TikTok to bring its processing into line within six months or stop the transfers.

Sources

Irish DPC press release The Irish Times, 30 June 2026

Summary in our own words. General information, not legal advice.

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