EU Privacy Complaint Hits TikTok, Five Other Chinese Firms
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The Austrian advocacy group Noyb has filed privacy complaints against TikTok, Shein, Xiaomi, and three other Chinese companies, alleging they unlawfully transfer European Union user data to China, Reuters reports. This marks the group's first complaints against Chinese firms.
Noyb, known for its previous complaints against American tech giants like Apple, Alphabet, and Meta, has filed six complaints across Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Austria. The group is seeking to suspend data transfers to China and is calling for fines that could reach up to 4% of a company's global revenue.
Noyb claims that Alibaba's AliExpress, Shein, TikTok, and Xiaomi admit to sending European personal data to China based on transparency reports and other documents. Meanwhile, Temu and Tencent's WeChat transfer data to undisclosed "third countries," likely China.
In response to these allegations, the Chinese foreign ministry stated that the government "has never and will never" ask companies or individuals to collect or provide data located in foreign countries in violation of local laws. The ministry also emphasized China's commitment to protecting data privacy and security.
A Xiaomi spokesperson said the company is currently reviewing the allegations and will fully cooperate with authorities if approached regarding the complaint. Other companies have yet to respond to requests for comment.
The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) restricts data transfers outside the bloc unless the destination country offers adequate data protection.
"Given that China is an authoritarian surveillance state, it is crystal clear that China doesn't offer the same level of data protection as the EU," said Kleanthi Sardeli, a data protection lawyer at Noyb. "Transferring Europeans' personal data is clearly unlawful – and must be terminated immediately."
These complaints come at a time when Chinese companies, particularly ByteDance-owned TikTok, are facing regulatory scrutiny globally. TikTok is set to block US users from its platform on Sunday due to an impending federal ban. The European Commission is also investigating TikTok for potential election interference.