What is TikTok?
TikTok is a popular video sharing social media app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It allows users to create, share, and watch 15-second videos shot on mobile devices (source). TikTok has quickly grown to become one of the world’s most popular social media platforms since launching in 2016, especially among younger users. As of 2022, TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide (source). The app’s core functionality revolves around creating and sharing short videos set to music and other audio clips. TikTok’s mission is stated as “to inspire creativity and bring joy” (source). While owned by a Chinese company, TikTok operates localized app versions around the world, including a separate US version with localized moderation and security practices.
What personal data does TikTok collect?
TikTok collects a significant amount of personal data from its users according to their privacy policy and independent investigations. Some of the key types of personal data TikTok accesses include:
Profile information – This includes your username, profile photo, bio, social connections on TikTok and more. TikTok’s privacy policy states they may collect user-provided profile and account information.
Messages – TikTok accesses and stores private messages sent between users on the platform according to their privacy policy. This data allows them to analyze messaging patterns.
Contacts – TikTok has the ability to access your address book and call log on your device to find contacts using the app. They claim to only do this with user consent.
Location data – TikTok accesses imprecise location data based on IP address and precise location data if location services are enabled on your device. This allows TikTok to customize content and targeting.
Metadata – Every video created has metadata attached to it including timestamps, geotags, device information and more. TikTok uses this to understand user interests and patterns.
Overall, TikTok has broad access to very personal user information that allows them to analyze demographics, interests, relationships and behaviors. Users should understand the extent of data collection when using the app.
Source: TikTok Privacy Policy
Does TikTok share my data?
TikTok does share some user data with third parties, as outlined in its privacy policy. According to TikTok, they may share information like your public profile data, content you’ve posted, and non-identifiable aggregated usage data with:TikTok Privacy Policy
- Corporate affiliates like parent company ByteDance
- Third party service providers and partners
- Legal authorities as required by law or regulations
TikTok states that they only share the minimum amount of data needed for these purposes and require third parties to keep the data confidential. However, the scope of data sharing with affiliates and third parties has raised privacy concerns. TikTok does allow users to restrict data sharing in the app’s privacy settings.
Can TikTok access my device data?
TikTok does have access to some data stored on your device beyond what is required for its service. As outlined in its privacy policy, it collects location data such as your IP address and GPS location, as well as data in device settings like audio volume, screen brightness, battery level, operating system version, and mobile carrier.
Notably, TikTok can access your clipboard while the app is running, which could contain private information. The app also can access metadata of photos and other media stored on your device. However, TikTok claims it does not actually store or retain this metadata.
A cybersecurity analysis conducted by Internet 2.0 found that TikTok appears capable of retrieving almost any data from an Android phone, including call logs, contacts, and text messages. However, there is no evidence of TikTok actually collecting that private data. The app takes these extensive permissions to enable certain features, but does not necessarily use them for data harvesting.
So in summary, while TikTok does have broad device access capabilities, its data collection practices seem focused on analytics and advertising data according to its privacy policy. Users should still be cautious and utilize privacy settings, but extensive phone data harvesting has not been conclusively proven.
Does TikTok store data in China?
While TikTok was originally founded and owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, in recent years TikTok has made efforts to store user data outside of China.
According to TikTok’s privacy policy, user data from most countries is stored either in Virginia or Singapore. TikTok moved U.S. user data from China to servers at Oracle in the United States in 2022 to ease security concerns.
However, there are some indications that some technical and backup data may still flow through data centers in China:
“But TikTok confirmed in July that China-based employees of its parent company ByteDance have accessed non-public information about some US users. And there are concerns that data could flow indirectly to China through that corporate relationship.” (Source)
So while the majority of TikTok user data now resides outside of China, there are still connections to China that give some users pause, especially those wary of potential data access by the Chinese government.
How does TikTok use my data?
TikTok uses the data it collects to personalize and improve the user experience by serving targeted ads and recommendations. Like other social media platforms, TikTok’s main motivation in collecting user data is to keep people engaged on the app for longer periods of time.
Some of the key ways TikTok leverages user data include:
- Targeted ads – TikTok collects information like age, gender, interests, and browsing history to serve users relevant ads. Advertising is a major revenue source for the platform.
- Personalized recommendations – The app’s algorithms analyze user data and activity to recommend customized content to each individual user. This content is tailored to their tastes and interests.
- Customized experience – User data allows TikTok to personalize the interface and features people see. From the language displayed to the content served, TikTok aims to customize the app experience.
While data collection is common in the tech industry, the amount of information gathered by TikTok from mobile devices has raised privacy concerns. Users have minimal visibility into how their data is aggregated and leveraged by the company.
TikTok Privacy Settings
TikTok allows users some control over their privacy settings and ability to limit data collection. In your account settings under “Privacy,” you can choose whether your account is private or public, who can see your liked videos, manage your incoming messages and comments, turn off personalized ads, and limit your account’s discoverability.
Some key settings to adjust for more privacy include:
- Making your account private so only approved followers can view your content
- Restricting your liked videos and following lists to be viewable only by you
- Turning off personalized ads based on your online activity
- Disabling suggestions for accounts to follow based on contacts, interests, watch history etc.
While TikTok’s default settings allow a lot of data collection, adjusting these privacy controls can help limit some of the personal information gathered and shared by the platform. However, even with stricter settings TikTok still collects some user data, so those highly concerned with privacy may want to reconsider using the app.
Securing your TikTok account
To help keep your TikTok account secure, it’s important to set a strong password and enable two-factor authentication (2FA).
TikTok recommends using a password that is at least 8 characters long, contains a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols, and isn’t used on any other accounts. Avoid using personal information or common words and phrases that could be easily guessed.
You can enable 2FA in the TikTok app by going to your profile, tapping the menu icon, selecting “Settings and privacy,” and then “Login security.” Here you can turn on 2FA which will require you to enter a 6-digit code sent to your phone whenever you log in from a new device.
According to TikTok’s support page, enabling 2FA provides an extra layer of account security and makes it harder for anyone else to log in, even if they know your password.
Minimizing data collection
There are several steps you can take to limit the amount of data TikTok collects about you:
Limit your profile information. Don’t fill out unnecessary profile fields like your bio, website, phone number, etc. The less info you provide, the less data TikTok can collect.
Avoid connecting your contacts. TikTok will ask to access your contacts to find friends, but allowing this gives TikTok information about your relationships.
Turn off location services. You can disable location access for TikTok in your device settings. This prevents TikTok from collecting your location data.
According to MakeUseOf, using TikTok’s privacy settings to limit data collection is one of the best ways to minimize the data TikTok can access. Keep your profile private, turn off personalized ads, disable the “Suggest your account to others” setting, and limit data usage in the app.
While no single step will completely stop TikTok from collecting some data, limiting its access through privacy settings and being selective about what information you provide can significantly reduce TikTok’s data collection.
Deleting your TikTok account
If you want to permanently delete your TikTok account and all associated data, here are the steps to follow:
1. Open the TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right.
2. Tap the menu icon in the top right corner and select “Settings and privacy”.
3. Choose “Account” and then “Delete account”.
4. Select “Delete account” to permanently delete your account. You will be asked to enter your password and then tap “Delete”.
Once your account is deleted, all your videos, likes, follows, and other data associated with your account will be permanently removed from TikTok’s servers. There is no way to later recover a deleted TikTok account.
If you only want to temporarily deactivate your account, you can choose “Deactivate account” instead in step 4 above. This hides your account until you log back in.
For more details, see TikTok’s support article on deleting your account.
