Brazil Fines TikTok €25.5 Million Over Children's Data
Regulator ANPD lists five breaches of Brazil's data protection law and orders tighter default settings for users under the age of 16.
Illustrative scene: a phone left face down beside a child's belongings in a living room at dusk — AI-generated image.
Brazil's data protection authority ANPD has fined TikTok 25.5 million euros for allegedly processing children's and teenagers' personal data without a sufficient legal basis.
At a glance
- Penalty: 25.5 million euros, issued by Brazil's data protection authority ANPD.
- Allegation: five breaches of Brazilian data protection law, covering registered and unregistered accounts.
- Orders: delete unlawfully collected data, apply stricter default settings for users under 16.
- Window to appeal: ten business days.
- For context: TikTok paid 400 million dollars in a US case over children's data.
Brazil's data protection authority ANPD has issued a 25.5 million euro penalty against TikTok. The regulator says the platform, owned by Chinese group ByteDance, processed personal data belonging to children and teenagers without a sufficient legal basis.
Five separate breaches
The ANPD did not describe a single lapse. It lists five breaches of Brazilian data protection law, and they cover people who signed up as well as people who never created an account. That second group matters: browsing without registering still generates data.
The changes the regulator wants
Money is only part of the order. TikTok is told to delete data it collected unlawfully and to apply stricter defaults to users under 16. The regulator also wants stronger parental controls and better protection against unsuitable content. For unregistered users, advertising and direct messaging are to go, and content personalization is to be curbed.
Ten business days
TikTok has ten business days to appeal. The reporting available to us does not record a public statement from the company, and it does not give the equivalent figure in Brazilian reais. Whether the company challenges the decision is therefore still open.
The same complaint in three jurisdictions
Brazil is not acting in isolation. In the United States, TikTok paid 400 million dollars in a case over collecting children's data without parental consent. The European Commission has alleged the service does too little against cyberbullying. The legal grounds differ, but the subject is consistent: how the platform treats young users.
Why the Brazilian market raises the stakes
TikTok is among the most widely used social networks in Brazil. At that scale, orders touching defaults and personalization cut deeper than a one-off payment, because they change how the product behaves. How much of it TikTok actually implements will only become clear once the appeal window closes.
FAQ
How much is TikTok's fine in Brazil?
The ANPD set the penalty at 25.5 million euros. The corresponding figure in Brazilian reais is not stated in the available reporting.
What did TikTok do wrong according to the ANPD?
The regulator cites five breaches of data protection law, centering on the processing of minors' data without a sufficient legal basis, for registered and unregistered users alike.
Can TikTok appeal the Brazilian decision?
Yes. It has ten business days to file an appeal. Whether the company will do so has not been reported.
