The Viral Video App with Privacy Concerns
With over 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. However, its meteoric rise has not been without controversy, especially when it comes to user privacy.
In 2022, TikTok was fined a record €405 million by European regulators for violating children’s privacy rules and failing to protect kids’ data. The app’s popularity with a young userbase combined with numerous data collection practices has raised alarm bells for many parents and privacy advocates.
What is a Private TikTok Account?
A private TikTok account is an account that has been set to private by its owner. When an account is set to private, only approved followers can view the account holder’s videos, likes, and followers (source: https://bloggingscheme.com/can-you-report-a-private-tiktok-account/). Private accounts give users more control over who can interact with their content.
With a private account, the account holder must approve each follower request before that person can view any of their content. This differs from a public account where anyone can view videos, likes, followers, and other information without needing approval to follow the account (source: https://www.guru99.com/how-to-view-private-tiktok-accounts.html).
By making an account private, TikTok users can limit their audience and have more say in who engages with their content. This allows for a more selective, controlled experience on the platform.
Potential Benefits of a Private Account
One of the main benefits of having a private TikTok account is having more control over your audience. With a private account, only people you approve can follow you and see your content. This prevents random strangers from commenting on or viewing your videos if you don’t want them to. According to TikTok’s support page, “Private accounts give you full control over privacy settings.”
Having a private account can also help reduce unsolicited messages and comments. Since your account is not visible to the general public, you are less likely to get unwanted attention or spam from people you don’t know. TikTok notes that “your account won’t show up in searches, So Only You Decide who can see your content.” This gives you more control over who engages with your profile.
Potential Drawbacks
One potential drawback of having a private TikTok account is that it can be harder to gain followers and go viral, as your videos are only visible to people you approve to follow you. With a public account, anyone can view, share, and engage with your content, allowing it to reach a much wider audience organically (Source).
Since private accounts have a smaller potential reach, your videos are less likely to get picked up by TikTok’s algorithm and recommended to lots of new viewers. This makes it more challenging for private accounts to build a large following or have their content spread widely across the platform without additional promotion efforts. Ultimately, keeping your account private means sacrificing some virality in exchange for more control over privacy and audience.
What Data is Still Collected?
Even with a private account, TikTok still collects certain user data. According to TikTok’s privacy policy, they automatically collect information like your IP address, device information, operating system, and browser information (TikTok Privacy Policy).
TikTok also collects information on how you interact with the platform, including liking, sharing, commenting on videos, what hashtags and accounts you search for, and your interactions with messages, ads, and other content (TikTok Privacy Policy).
Usage information like the videos you watch, sounds you use, and features you engage with are collected by TikTok regardless of your privacy settings (Requesting Your Data). Your watch history, search history, and interactions with other accounts are still tracked.
While TikTok claims they don’t link your information to you personally, the data they collect can be used to infer details and identify you indirectly. So private accounts still have user data collected, though the extent may be more limited.
Is Data Secure?
TikTok uses encryption and other security measures to protect user data while it is stored on their servers. According to TikTok’s Privacy and Security page, user data is stored in protected data centers located in the US, Malaysia, and Singapore. TikTok also announced plans to establish a data center in Ireland.
Specifically, TikTok states they use encryption in transit and at rest to prevent unauthorized access to user data. This means data is encrypted when it is being transmitted between a user’s device and TikTok’s servers, as well as when it is sitting idle in TikTok’s storage systems. TikTok also has various access controls in place to restrict employee access to user data based on business need.
However, some security experts have raised concerns about potential vulnerabilities, like TikTok’s reported use of weaker encryption algorithms in the past. Overall though, TikTok does seem to utilize standard encryption and security protections for user data in line with industry practices.
Parental Controls
TikTok provides additional privacy and safety features for teens through their Family Pairing system, which allows parents to link their TikTok account to their teen’s account. Parents can enable additional parental controls such as:
- Making the teen’s account private
- Restricting messaging to “Friends Only”
- Limiting screen time
- Restricting content that may appear in their feed
Family Pairing gives parents visibility into their teen’s TikTok account and settings. Through the parent’s linked TikTok account, they can monitor activity, comments, liked videos, live stream privacy, and who can view their teen’s content. This allows parents to oversee their teen’s TikTok usage and interactions.
Privacy Concerns with TikTok
There are some significant privacy concerns with TikTok that users should be aware of. One of the biggest concerns is around censorship and the Chinese government’s potential access to user data.
TikTok has admitted to censoring content that goes against Chinese government guidelines, even for users outside of China (Time). There are worries that the Chinese government could pressure TikTok to censor content they deem problematic or access data on users who post content considered anti-China.
In addition, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is based in China and subject to Chinese laws. There are concerns that under China’s national intelligence laws, the government could potentially force ByteDance to share TikTok user data with authorities (Kaspersky).
While TikTok stores US user data on servers in the US and Singapore, there are still fears the Chinese government could obtain data on US citizens if they demanded it from ByteDance.
How to Make Account More Secure
There are several steps TikTok users can take to increase the security of their accounts:
Use a strong password that is unique to TikTok and not used on any other accounts. TikTok recommends using a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Avoid common passwords or personal information.
Enable two-factor authentication, which requires both your password and a secondary code sent to your phone when logging in. This adds an extra layer of protection to your account.
Frequently review your privacy settings and modify them as needed. TikTok allows you to limit visibility of videos, comments, liked content and more. You can choose options like making an account private or limiting messaging to “friends only.”
Be cautious about linking third-party apps or services to your TikTok account, as they may access profile data. Only connect apps you fully understand and trust.
Consider using TikTok’s Family Pairing feature to enable additional parental controls if appropriate, like screen time limits and restricted mode.
Monitor your follower list and block any unknown or suspicious accounts. Be wary of interacting with strangers online.
Report any violations of TikTok’s community guidelines or signs of account compromise immediately. TikTok’s support team can investigate issues.
Regularly check your privacy settings and account activity to detect any unauthorized changes. Enabling notifications can also help monitor account security.
Conclusion
In summary, making your TikTok account private does provide more control over who can view your content. It limits your videos to only people you approve as followers. This can help reduce unwanted attention or harassment from strangers online.
However, a private account does not guarantee full privacy protection or anonymization on TikTok. Your data is still collected by the platform, and could potentially be accessed by government authorities or hackers. Parental controls and privacy settings can add additional layers of security.
If privacy is a major concern for you, experts recommend being cautious about what personal information you share on TikTok, even with a private account enabled. As with all social media platforms, there are always some risks involved in sharing your data online.
The best approach is to be informed about TikTok’s privacy policies, utilize available security settings, and exercise discretion when posting videos or interacting with other users.
