Supreme Court confirms TikTok can continue EU-China data transfers during appeal

TikTok has won a crucial reprieve in its battle over European user data, after the Supreme Court here confirmed the company may continue transferring data from the European Union to China while it pursues an appeal against a regulator’s order to stop the practice over privacy concerns.

The platform’s lead EU privacy watchdog, the Irish Data Protection Commission, imposed a €530m fine on the short-video app last May and directed it to suspend data transfers to China unless its processing was brought into ⁠compliance within six months.

However, the High Court in November granted a stay on that ban, finding that the risk posed to consumers by the transfers was limited and temporary, while the harm TikTok would face from a suspension was almost impossible to measure.

The Supreme Court today upheld that position, ruling that the stay should remain in force during the relatively short ‌time ⁠before the High Court delivers its judgment in the appeal against both the fine and the transfer ban. That case has already been heard.

TikTok has said it has never ⁠received a request from the Chinese authorities for European user data, and has never handed over European user data to them.

The company also argues ⁠that the Irish regulator did not fully account for data security measures first introduced in 2023 that independently monitor remote access.