Reaching a Staggering Number of Users
TikTok’s 1 billion monthly active users have boosted it to one of the world’s most popular social media apps.[1] Each day users spend an average of 52 minutes on the platform watching short-form videos and creating their own content.[1] With such a massive userbase and time spent on the app, TikTok has become a central place for creativity, trends, and online interaction.
But with this expansive reach comes questions of privacy. In particular, many users wonder – can people see if I viewed their TikTok profile or videos? Let’s explore TikTok’s default settings, privacy controls, and best practices for anonymous viewing.
What Is Viewer Privacy?
Viewer privacy refers to the ability of social media users to control who can see what content they view or accounts they interact with on platforms like TikTok. When you view someone’s profile or video on TikTok, that activity is not private by default. The account owner can see in their analytics that you visited their page, though they won’t see anything more specific like how long you were there. Still, many people wish to keep their viewing history private for reasons like not wanting certain people to know they’ve visited their page. Social media companies face ongoing debates around balancing user privacy with advertising profits driven by data collection and analytics.
As this TechTarget article explains, “Social media privacy encompasses the ability of users to control what information about them is available to other users.” When sites don’t allow for viewer privacy controls, it raises concerns about “stalking, identity theft or the unanticipated use of information.” Parents in particular worry about protecting children’s privacy online. Calls for improved viewer privacy protections continue across various social platforms.
Default TikTok Settings
When users first sign up for a TikTok account, their profile and view history are set to public by default. This means that anyone on TikTok can see their profile information, videos, likes, followers, and who has viewed their profile.
With a public account, each time you view a profile, that user will be notified in their notifications and will see your profile picture and username. They can then click your profile to view your profile and videos.
Many TikTok users don’t realize this, assuming their viewing history is private. But unless you specifically change the default privacy settings, other users can see exactly who has viewed their profile.
Making Your Profile Private
Making your TikTok profile private is a simple process that prevents people you do not know from viewing your profile and videos. To make your TikTok profile private:
- Open the TikTok app and go to your profile page.
- Tap on the three dots in the upper right corner to open the menu.
- Select “Privacy and Settings” from the menu options.
- Toggle the switch for “Private Account” to the on position.
- Confirm that you want to make your account private when prompted.
Once you make your TikTok profile private, only people you approve as followers will be able to see your profile information, videos, likes, and comments. Your existing followers will remain followers even after you turn on the private account setting. To approve new followers, you will get follow requests that you can accept or deny. Overall, a private profile gives you much more control over who can interact with you on TikTok.
For more details, refer to TikTok’s guide on how to put your profile private.
Private Profile Viewer Privacy
When you have a private TikTok profile, other users can’t see anything about you unless they follow you. This includes your videos, likes, followers, following list, and bio. Having a private profile also makes your viewing activity completely anonymous.
According to TikTok’s support page, “Only followers can see your private videos, likes, comments, sharing, and following communities and lists. Usernames remain public so people can follow you.”
So when your profile is set to private, other TikTok users will not get notified if you view their profile or content. Your viewing history remains invisible to everyone except you. This gives you full privacy over whose profiles and videos you look at on TikTok without them knowing.
To recap, private profiles on TikTok allow you to anonymously look at other profiles without leaving a trace. Your viewing activity is completely hidden from non-followers.
Using TikTok Anonymously
You do not need an account to view TikTok. By using TikTok without signing in, you can anonymously browse videos on the platform. This allows you to view content without sharing any of your personal information or having your viewing activity tracked.
To use TikTok without an account:
- Go to tiktok.com and do not sign in or create an account.
- You will enter TikTok as a guest user. In this anonymous viewing mode, you can scroll through videos on the For You feed and search for content.
- Without an account, you cannot like, comment, share, follow creators, or post videos.
- To exit anonymous viewing mode, simply close the browser tab you are using for TikTok. The next time you go to TikTok without signing in, you will again enter as an anonymous guest.
Using TikTok anonymously allows you to browse videos without sharing any personal data. However, you miss out on key features like interacting with content. Signing up for an account gives you access to the full TikTok experience.
Who Can See Your View History
TikTok does not allow other users to see your personal view history. This means the videos, profiles, and content that you view privately within the app is not visible to anyone else. According to TikTok’s support page, turning off your profile view history ensures that you cannot see who has viewed your profile, and other users are not able to see that you’ve viewed their profile.
Some users have concerns about TikTok “stalking” and being able to see exactly who has visited their profile. However, TikTok does not provide a view history or tracking of who has visited your profile to anyone. The view counts on profiles are aggregated numbers and do not reveal individual viewers.
In summary, you can rest assured that your TikTok viewing history remains private. The videos, profiles and content you view in the app are not visible to other users in any way. TikTok’s default settings ensure viewer privacy and prevent profile stalking.
TikTok Stalking Concerns
TikTok has faced scrutiny over concerns about stalking and harassment on the platform. Some users have reported feeling unsafe due to unwanted attention and creepy behavior from strangers online. TikTok acknowledges these issues in their community guidelines, stating “We do not allow content that includes personal information that may create a risk of stalking, violence, phishing, fraud, identity theft, or financial harm.”
Users, especially young women, have voiced concerns over TikTok’s stalking problem on forums like Reddit. As one user posted on r/TikTokHelp, “Being stalked on Tiktok, what do I do? And how can I find out who this person is? Freaking out.” Stories of being relentlessly contacted, having personal details exposed, and feeling unsafe abound.
While TikTok has community guidelines in place, critics argue it has not done enough to protect users from harassment and abuse. The platform’s privacy settings also make it easy for strangers to find and follow young users. More stringent protections and moderation may be needed to address stalking issues on TikTok.
TikTok Privacy Settings
TikTok allows users some control over their privacy settings. This includes options to make your account private, limit comments and messages, disable shares, and restrict downloading of your videos.
Some key TikTok privacy settings to review include:
- Make Account Private – This prevents non-followers from viewing your content
- Restrict Duets/Stitches – Limits who can reuse or remix your videos
- Limit Comments and Messages – Controls who can comment on or message you
- Disable Sharing – Stops others from sharing your content
- Restrict Downloads – Prevents downloading or recording of your videos
It’s important to occasionally review your TikTok privacy settings and make adjustments as needed. The platform is continuously evolving, so new options may become available. Staying on top of your settings helps protect your account.
Conclusion
In summary, TikTok has settings that allow you to control who can see that you’ve viewed someone’s profile or video. By default, the app allows anyone to see that you’ve viewed their content. However, you can make your profile private so that your viewing history is also private. Additionally, using TikTok anonymously in browser or private/incognito mode will prevent your viewing activity from being tracked. While some users have concerns about TikTok stalking, the platform provides tools to limit your viewing footprint if desired. Just be aware that adjusting visibility settings means you won’t be able to see others’ viewing history either. The key takeaways are:
- Enabling a private account makes your viewing history private too
- Using TikTok anonymously prevents view tracking
- Viewing profiles can be considered TikTok stalking by some users
- TikTok has settings to control viewing privacy
In the end, it’s about finding the right balance for your needs between viewing privacy and viewing transparency on TikTok.
