With over 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. However, its massive growth has raised serious concerns about how much data the app collects from users’ devices.
Recent reports revealed TikTok harvested an extraordinary amount of data from Android devices, including complete text messages, contacts, audio recordings, location history, and other sensitive information. This has led many users to ask: Can TikTok see everything on your phone?
What Permissions Does TikTok Request?
When you install TikTok on your Android or iOS device, the app will request access to some of your phone’s features and personal information. The specific permissions TikTok asks for include:
On Android, TikTok requests access to:
- Camera – To take videos and photos within the app
- Microphone – To record audio for videos
- Contacts – To find friends on TikTok
- Location – To tag locations on posts and serve relevant content
- Storage – To save videos created within the app
On iOS, TikTok requests access to:
- Camera – Same as Android
- Microphone – Same as Android
- Contacts – Same as Android
- Location – Same as Android
- Photos – To allow users to edit and upload videos from their camera roll
These permissions allow TikTok to provide its core functionalities like creating and sharing videos. Users have to grant these access permissions in order to use the main features of the app.
Data TikTok Collects
TikTok collects a wide variety of user data and analytics, including user account information like age and date of birth, content viewed and engaged with, user interests, and device, location, network, and contact information[1]. When a user signs up for an account, TikTok requires them to provide information such as email address, birthday, phone number, and profile photo. Once a user starts engaging with content on the app, TikTok tracks their clicks, views, searches, comments, shares, messages, and more to gain insight into their interests and preferences.
While using the app, TikTok collects device and app data like device model, operating system, IP address, mobile network information, and unique device identifiers. It accesses device location either through IP address tracing or if the user grants location access. TikTok also tracks nearby devices through Bluetooth when the app is open. In addition, TikTok accesses the user’s contacts list and call history if they allow that permission.
The data gathered helps TikTok curate an endless stream of personalized content. It also allows them to provide analytics and advertising services. While many other social media apps gather similar data, the insights TikTok gains into teenagers and young users has raised particular privacy concerns.
How TikTok Uses Your Data
TikTok uses the data it collects from users primarily for targeted advertising and personalized recommendations. According to TikTok’s privacy policy, they may use your data for purposes like “suggestions for you and others,” including suggested users to follow and video recommendations based on your interests and activity on the app. TikTok creates interest and demographic profiles about users to better target advertisements. For example, if you frequently like cooking videos, you may start seeing ads for cooking tools or ingredients. The app’s algorithm aims to keep users engaged by recommending content it predicts you will enjoy and interact with.
TikTok also may use data like your device information, location, and network type for purposes like “delivering relevant advertisements,” according to their policy. They share certain data segments with advertisers to enable targeted ad campaigns based on users’ inferred interests and demographics. So TikTok leverages the data collected from your use of the app to fuel their ad targeting and recommendation systems designed to keep you engaged on the platform.
Does TikTok Access Other Apps?
There is ongoing debate about whether TikTok can access data from other apps on a user’s device. According to a 2022 analysis by Internet 2.0, TikTok’s SDK and API have the capability to access “almost the entire breadth of information stored on the phone.” This includes the ability to retrieve data from other installed apps, though the extent is unclear.
Some researchers claim TikTok can access data inputs and clipboard contents from other apps. However, TikTok has disputed these findings and maintains that it does not access data from third-party apps without consent. The app only requests permissions considered standard for a social media app.
Much of the concern stems from the fact that TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. Due to China’s data security laws, the government can potentially access TikTok user data. However, TikTok stores international user data on servers based in the US and Singapore to avoid this.
In summary, while TikTok technically has the capability to access some data from other apps, there is no hard evidence yet that it does so secretly. Users concerned about privacy can limit app permissions and monitor data access.
TikTok’s Data Storage
TikTok stores user data in data centers located around the world. As of June 2022, TikTok announced that 100% of U.S. user traffic is now routed to Oracle Cloud servers located in the United States [1]. Historically, U.S. user data was stored in Singapore, with backup servers located in the U.S. and other countries.
For users outside the U.S., TikTok data is stored in the region where the user is located. For example, European user data is stored in European data centers located in Ireland and Finland [2]. TikTok is working to migrate more user data to regional servers to improve localized services.
TikTok states that user data is stored as long as an account is active and for a reasonable period thereafter in case of reactivation. Data associated with inactive accounts may be deleted or anonymized, except as required to comply with legal obligations.
How to Limit TikTok’s Data Access
While TikTok collects a considerable amount of data, there are some steps users can take to limit how much data the app can access:
Make Your Account Private – By default, TikTok accounts are public, allowing anyone to see your profile information and videos. Setting your account to private restricts access to only people you approve as followers, limiting the data collection from strangers.
Restrict App Permissions – In your device settings, you can modify the permissions granted to TikTok, like turning off access to your camera, microphone, contacts, location, etc. This prevents TikTok from accessing that data without your consent.
Limit Ad Data Collection – In TikTok’s ads settings, you can opt out of personalized ads and disable access to your advertising ID, which reduces data gathering for targeted ads. However, TikTok will still collect some usage analytics.
Avoid Linking Accounts – TikTok prompts you to link your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and other accounts. Avoid linking third-party accounts so TikTok can’t gather data from them.
Be Selective in Sharing – Consider not sharing potentially sensitive personal data in your profile or videos. This gives TikTok less user data to collect and exploit.
While these steps don’t prevent all data collection, they do limit the amount and types of data TikTok can access from your device and account. However, foregoing some permissions may disable certain app features.
TikTok vs. Privacy Laws
TikTok has faced multiple lawsuits and investigations related to potential violations of data privacy laws, especially those protecting children. In particular, many have questioned if TikTok complies with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which sets guidelines for companies that collect data on children under 13.
In 2019 TikTok paid a $5.7 million fine to the FTC over violating COPPA by illegally collecting personal information from children without parental consent. However, concerns remained about TikTok’s data collection practices regarding minors. In 2021 eight states led by Massachusetts opened a joint investigation into potential COPPA violations by TikTok.
TikTok has also faced lawsuits related to collecting biometric data from minors. In early 2023 TikTok agreed to pay $92 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging the app illegally collected personal and biometric data from minors.
TikTok’s privacy practices regarding European users have also been under scrutiny. In September 2022, the EU fined TikTok €345 million for failing to protect children’s privacy and processing their data without parental consent according to GDPR requirements.
Is TikTok Safe for Kids?
Many parents have concerns about whether TikTok is safe for young users, especially when it comes to data collection. TikTok requires users to be at least 13 years old to create an account, but there are worries that younger kids are misrepresenting their age to sign up.
TikTok collects a significant amount of data from users to tailor content and advertising. While this data collection occurs with adult users as well, parents worry what it means for younger kids’ privacy. TikTok gathers information like location, browsing history, inferred interests, and more.
Another concern around young users on TikTok is the nature of the content itself. While TikTok does have protections in place, inappropriate or mature content can still reach underage users. Parents also worry about predators contacting children on the platform.
While TikTok can be an entertaining app for kids to use, parents should monitor use and utilize parental control features. There are valid concerns around data collection practices and content when it comes to young users.
Conclusion
To sum it up, TikTok does collect a significant amount of data, but it’s unclear whether they go beyond their standard privacy policy and actually access anything else on your phone. What we do know is that TikTok gathers data on your interactions, content viewing, device information, location and more in order to personalize the app experience and target you with relevant ads.
While the data collection is concerning, it’s fairly standard practice for social media apps today. TikTok claims they do not access anything beyond what you give them permission to access. However, due to their ties to China, there are heightened data privacy concerns compared to other apps. It’s a good idea to limit access and be cautious about what you share. Overall, it’s smart to be informed about how much data any app can collect before downloading.
