TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide. However, concerns have been raised about TikTok’s data collection practices and privacy policies. Many security experts have accused TikTok of aggressively harvesting huge amounts of user data and sharing it with the Chinese government. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the types of user data TikTok collects and the associated privacy risks.
User Profiles
According to OCHOLAVENUE, TikTok collects a range of personal information from users when they create a profile, including age, username, profile photo, and bio. Users are required to provide a date of birth when signing up for TikTok, which is then used to customize content and advertising to them based on their age (Source). The username they choose and profile photo they upload also become part of their public-facing profile that other users see. Additionally, users have the option to add a short bio to their profile, where some choose to disclose personal details like their real name, location, hobbies, occupation, and more.
Uploaded Videos
When a user uploads a video to TikTok, the actual video file and its metadata are stored on TikTok’s servers. This includes details like the video’s duration, size, resolution, etc. TikTok needs to store this video content in order to play it for other users. However, the video files themselves take up a massive amount of storage space.
According to Reddit users, TikTok does not delete uploaded videos, even if the user deletes them from their profile. The videos remain on TikTok’s servers indefinitely. One Redditor claimed that TikTok support told them this directly: “I contacted TikTok support and they said they permanently store all videos even after deletion.”[1] This allows TikTok to continue analyzing and learning from the video content.
So every video uploaded to TikTok is stored on their servers forever, occupying storage space. With over 1 billion monthly active users now on TikTok, the amount of stored video data is massive and continuously growing.
Device Information
TikTok collects a significant amount of data from users’ devices, including IP address, device ID, OS version, and network type according to research from NetWitness as reported by Fox Business. This allows TikTok to fingerprint and track devices even when users are not logged in. The device ID in particular provides a unique identifier that can be linked to other data collected by TikTok to build detailed profiles.
In addition, TikTok is able to collect the device model, hardware IDs, disk space, CPU cores, battery levels, and installed apps according to a report by The Guardian. With this granular level of device data, experts warn TikTok may even be able to determine what floor of a building a user is on based on WiFi networks and other sensors.
While some device data collection is standard for mobile apps, the amount of device information harvested by TikTok is more extensive than many other social media platforms according to privacy advocates. Users should be aware of the breadth of device data TikTok can access before using the app.
Contacts and Social Graph
TikTok gathers considerable data related to a user’s contacts and social connections. According to research by Tech-ish, TikTok can access a user’s entire phone contacts list without explicit permission. This allows TikTok to map out a user’s social graph and relationships. TikTok also connects to a user’s Facebook account, if authorized, to access their list of Facebook friends. By compiling this contact and social data, TikTok can better understand a user’s connections and target content and recommendations.
Interactions
TikTok tracks all of your interactions on the platform, including likes, comments, and shares. This allows them to understand your interests and preferences in order to serve you more relevant content. According to Wired, “TikTok records every video you like, comment on or share. This enables it to learn your preferences and serve you a customised feed.”
When you like, comment on, or share someone else’s video, TikTok associates your profile with that video and its metadata. This reveals information about your interests and relationships. TikTok’s privacy policy states that they collect information “you provide through your interactions with our services, including when you . . . interact with videos.”
A Reddit user claimed “Tik Tok is definitely using my microphone” to listen to their conversations outside the app and target relevant ads. While unconfirmed, this highlights concerns around how much our interactions within TikTok reveal about us outside the app. As Quora users noted, “monitoring the clipboard is likely to be just one of many ways that TikTok is tracking users.”
Watch History
TikTok collects a significant amount of data on the videos you watch through the app. They keep track of all the videos you view, how long you spend watching them, whether you liked or shared them, and which hashtags you followed related to the video content. According to TikTok’s privacy policy, they may share this watch history data with third parties for advertising purposes.
TikTok also stores your video search history when you look up specific videos, sounds or hashtags. They capture the keywords you searched for and the results you tapped on. This allows them to understand your interests and preferences in order to serve you tailored ads.
Furthermore, any videos, sounds or hashtags you favorite or follow on TikTok are saved to your account profile. TikTok states this information may be used for “cross-device tracking,” meaning they can link it to your activities on other devices or services you use.
You can clear your TikTok watch and search history in your account settings under “Clear watch and search history.” However, this does not prevent TikTok from continuing to store this data moving forward as you use the app.
Messages
TikTok allows users to send direct messages to people they follow or who follow them back. According to Wired, TikTok likely has access to the content of direct messages sent between users. TikTok states that users can turn on read receipts to see if someone has read a message (TikTok Help Center). This indicates TikTok stores metadata about messages like timestamps of when a message is sent or read. TikTok also confirms they don’t allow messages to be sent to users you don’t already follow, limiting the messaging graph (Quora). Given TikTok’s access to message content and metadata, users should be aware conversations are not private from TikTok.
Location Data
TikTok collects approximate location information based on device data like SIM card and IP address to provide relevant content. However, if users enable location services, TikTok can collect precise location data including latitude and longitude coordinates (TikTok Support). This allows TikTok to determine the user’s precise location down to what floor of a building they are on according to cybersecurity researchers (The Guardian). TikTok states they only collect precise location data in regions where users have location services enabled.
Conclusion
In summary, TikTok collects a substantial amount of data from its users, including profile information, uploaded videos, device data, contacts, social graph, interactions, watch history, messages, and location information. Much of this data is used to serve users targeted advertisements and recommended content. TikTok likely stores this data indefinitely, unless users request for it to be deleted. While TikTok’s data collection is comparable to other social media platforms, the app’s privacy policy is vague on how exactly this data is used. Users concerned about privacy may want to limit the amount of information shared with TikTok or deactivate their account entirely.
