We have grown used to Big Tech companies harvesting persona data and treating users as commodities to be bought and sold. Despite regulatory crackdowns and rising awareness among the general populace, the upper hand still remains with those greedy companies.
Laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union (EU) were designed to restore a sense of control to users by mandating transparency, access, and accountability. But enforcement is slow, and non-compliance is the norm.
This past week, three popular Chinese tech platforms, TikTok, AliExpress, and WeChat, were accused of serious GDPR violations. The complaints come from noyb, a Vienna-based group that focuses on fighting privacy violations and enforcing data protection laws in Europe.
Noyb Drags Chinese Apps to Court
TikTok, AliExpress, and WeChat each have a massive user base.
noyb has formally filed three complaints with the data protection authorities (DPAs) of Belgium, Greece, and the Netherlands, with each complaint targeting one of the three above-mentioned Chinese apps.
TikTok is the subject of the complaint in Greece, AliExpress in Belgium, and WeChat in the Netherlands. All three are accused of failing to respond properly to user requests for access to their personal data, a right guaranteed under the GDPR.
The unnamed users who had requested access to their personal data from these companies encountered textbook stonewalling tactics. TikTok provided incomplete and confusing information. AliExpress sent corrupted files that could only be opened once. WeChat ignored the requests altogether.
The GDPR makes it clear that companies must give their users specific information about the data they are processing about them. Just because they receive a lot of requests doesn’t mean they can withhold information.
The trio are accused of violating Articles 12 and 15 of the GDPR. Article 12 requires companies to respond to data access requests in a transparent, easily accessible, and timely manner. Article 15 gives users the right to obtain a copy of their personal data and detailed information about its processing.
noyb’s complaint states that TikTok, AliExpress, and WeChat failed to meet these obligations by providing incomplete, unreadable, or no data at all. The group has requested that the DPAs issue a decision on this and also suggested imposing administrative fines to discourage similar violations in the future.
💬 Have you ever asked TikTok, AliExpress, or WeChat for your personal data and didn’t get a clear or complete answer? Share your experience below!
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