TikTok's U.S. arm sued over AI tutor allegedly sharing student data with Google
A class action has been filed against TikTok USDS Joint Venture, LLC, alleging its AI homework helper Gauth transmits users' questions to Google without consent.
Edward Lominchar, a resident of Miami, Florida, has filed a class-action lawsuit in the Central District of California against TikTok USDS Joint Venture, LLC, the U.S. operator of TikTok. The complaint alleges that Gauth, the platform’s AI-driven homework assistant, contains Google Analytics code that automatically sends the exact wording of each student’s question to Google. Lominchar, who began using Gauth in December 2024 while still in high school, says he never saw a privacy policy before his first query and expected his academic queries to remain private.
He contends that the transmitted data can expose subjects studied, academic level, personal identifiers, and usage patterns, which Google could combine with its own services to build sellable profiles. The filing asserts violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the California Invasion of Privacy Act, among other claims, and requests daily penalties of $100 or $10,000 per class member, plus additional statutory damages.
No comment has been received from TikTok or Google. The case highlights growing concerns over data handling in educational AI tools.
Why it matters
It raises privacy concerns about AI tools that collect detailed student data and share it with third-party advertisers.
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