Ireland's privacy regulator has fined TikTok 530 million euros ($601.3 million) for transmitting user data to China.
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which oversees TikTok's privacy in the EU, declared that the company had violated the GDPR data protection law by sending user data from Europeans to China.
The regulator stated that if TikTok does not comply with its order to bring its data processing into compliance within six months, it will suspend the company's transfers to China.
The DPC said it also discovered that TikTok had misled its investigation when it stated that it had not kept the data of European users on Chinese servers.
This month, TikTok told the regulator that, in contrast to its earlier claims, it had found a problem in February where a small amount of user data from Europeans was kept on servers located in China.
According to Doyle, the DPC takes the matter "very seriously" and is consulting with other EU data protection agencies to determine whether any regulatory action is necessary.
TikTok stated that it will file a comprehensive appeal since it disagrees with the Irish regulator's ruling.
Western authorities and lawmakers are worried that TikTok's user data transfers could give Beijing access to the information and allow it to spy on app users.
According to Chinese law, digital companies must provide the Chinese government with customer data if they are asked to help with nebulously defined "intelligence work."
TikTok has maintained that it has never given the Chinese government user data. While testifying in writing before a US Congress hearing in 2023, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew stated that the app "has never shared, or received a request to share, U.S. user data with the Chinese government."
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The lead regulator for a particular company may levy fines of up to four percent of its worldwide revenue under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which also applies to Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, members of the European Economic Area.