ICO fines Reddit for child data protection failures
Regulatory/Legal Action
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The UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) fined Reddit £14.47 million for collecting and using children under 13's personal information without adequate safeguards. The penalty centers on Reddit's delayed age-verification rollout, which did not arrive until July 2025 despite the platform's age restrictions. The enforcement action matters because the ICO said underage users may have been exposed to harmful content and their data was processed without a lawful basis.
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Timeline
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24.02.2026 16:54 2 articles · 4mo ago
ICO fines Reddit for child data protection failures
Initial DisclosureBefore the fine, Reddit had permitted underage users on the platform while lacking a meaningful age-verification control. The key operational shift came in July 2025, when Reddit introduced age assurance measures that the ICO still found insufficient.
Show sources
- UK fines Reddit $19 million for using children’s data unlawfully — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 24.02.2026 16:54
- UK fines Reddit $19 million for using children’s data unlawfully — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 24.02.2026 16:54