Austrian advocacy group noyb filed data privacy complaints on July 17, 2025, against AliExpress, TikTok, and WeChat.

The group accuses these platforms of not complying with European Union laws that require companies to provide users with access to their data.

The complaints assert that the three platforms lack adequate tools for users to download their personal information, which is mandated by EU regulations.

Noyb claims that Chinese companies often create barriers for users seeking access to their data compared to other technology firms.

Kleanthi Sardeli, a data protection lawyer at noyb, said that these companies collect significant amounts of user data.

However, they do not provide the full access required by EU law.

Noyb has previously filed complaints against major US technology companies such as Apple, Alphabet, and Meta.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Chinese tech firms face unprecedented EU privacy enforcement challenges

Chinese tech companies are facing increasing regulatory scrutiny in Europe after largely avoiding the significant GDPR fines that have hit US tech giants.

Since GDPR became enforceable in 2018, major US companies like Meta (€1.2 billion) and Google (€50 million) have received substantial penalties following NOYB complaints, while Chinese firms have remained relatively unscathed until now1.

This pattern is changing as NOYB expands its focus to include Chinese tech companies, filing complaints against TikTok, AliExpress, and WeChat for data access violations, and previously targeting six Chinese companies for unlawful data transfers from the EU to China2.

The GDPR’s extraterritorial scope means Chinese companies must comply with EU regulations when offering services to EU residents or monitoring their behavior, regardless of where the companies are headquartered3.

These enforcement actions represent a significant shift in global data governance, as regulators move beyond primarily targeting American tech giants to ensure compliance from all companies regardless of national origin.

2️⃣ Fundamental clash between EU privacy rights and Chinese data governance