TikTok, Shein and Xiaomi accused of illegal transfer of EU citizens' data

TikTok, Shein and Xiaomi accused of illegal transfer of EU citizens' data to China

Austrian rights organisation Noyb has filed a series of complaints against TikTok, Shein, Xiaomi and three other Chinese companies, accusing them of illegally transferring EU users' personal data to China.

In its initiative, the organisation sent six complaints to EU countries, including Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Austria, demanding that data transfers be suspended and fines imposed, which could amount to up to 4% of the companies' global revenue.

According to Noyb, TikTok, Shein, Xiaomi and the AliExpress platform have openly acknowledged that European users' data is transferred to China, citing transparency reports and other documents.

Meanwhile, Temu and the WeChat messenger, owned by Tencent, are also accused of transferring data to "third countries", presumably China.

A Xiaomi representative stated that the company is analysing the accusations and is ready to cooperate with regulators if they reach out. The other companies have not yet commented on the situation.