TikTok Is Watching: Here’s The Data The App Collects

TikTok bans — and proposed bans — have been making news around the globe for several years, with government leaders and politicians most often citing TikTok’s access to user data as their primary concern.

Their common contention is that the company’s data collection practices might endanger their countries’ national security. Here’s why. TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, and that nation’s laws require all companies to give the government any data they possess, on demand.

While the vast majority of TikTok users may have nothing to fear from China’s access to their personal information, the controversy has led many to wonder just how much of their data TikTok collects. The answer to that question: a lot more than you probably realize.

Basic User Information Collected by TikTok

Almost all social media platforms require the same general information before you can sign up, and the story’s no different for getting a TikTok account. The app will save:

• Your name
• Your email address or phone number, often both
• Your birthdate
• Your username and password on the app

You also voluntarily give TikTok a lot more data and information. That includes:

• The details you put into your TikTok profile and bio, including your profile picture
• Available details on all of your friends and acquaintances, if you sync contacts from your phone or other apps like Instagram.
• Some of your sensitive financial data, if you make any purchases on the platform.

TikTok also collects and records information on your IP address and location, your Internet provider or phone carrier, and the details of all computers or devices you use to connect.

And that’s just the “basic” information. You may have heard about the TikTok algorithms, which govern activity and exposure on the app. They also work overtime to record details about your TikTok activity.

Behavioral Information Collected by TikTok

As you navigate through your TikTok feed, “spying” is probably the last thing that crosses your mind. The word may be a bit harsh, but the app’s algorithms are watching and recording everything you do.

The justification is understandable and not unusual. TikTok (and other social apps) say they want to track your activity to create the best possible user experience, by showing and recommending content that matches what they’ve determined to be your interests. That’s the whole theory behind the app’s “For You” feed.

You might be surprised what it means in real terms, though. TikTok saves data on:

• The TikTok videos you watch, how many times you watch them, and how much time you spend with each one, as well as your total time spent on the app
• The TikTok content you like, share, favorite, and comment on, and your scrolling patterns
• All of the videos you create, including metadata and timestamps, the edits you made, and the sounds, filters, and effects that you used
• All of your search history, including the topics you’ve focused on
• All of your purchase history in TikTok Shops
• Your location when you used any of the app’s features and functions

That’s just a partial list, and the app also uses cookies to track activity, like most other websites.

What Does TikTok Do with That Data?

It appears that TikTok uses the information it collects to do what it claims. The app’s algorithms create a constantly revised “picture” of your interests and habits online so they can show you relevant content you might want to see.

However, the platform also uses the data to provide content creators and advertisers with TikTok analytics that help them see the effectiveness of their videos and ads and help them target specific audiences. TikTok also utilizes the data to “self-scout” its algorithms and look for ways to improve them.

That may sound well and good, but it doesn’t end there.

TikTok also reserves the right (in its terms and conditions) to share data with ad partners, other analytics providers, other social media platforms, data storage and processing providers, governmental authorities (when legally mandated), business partners, financial institutions and payment processors, and TikTok subsidiaries and affiliates.

Those enormous lists of collected data and who it can be shared with help explain the concerns that privacy advocates express about social media platforms like TikTok. The data is — or can be — used to compile extensive profiles of every user. The platform promises it will never sell the information, but it clearly can share it with business partners extensively.

The collection of this data has become so normalized that most people don’t give it much thought anymore. However, the fight over TikTok bans in America and many other nations has shined a new spotlight on the practices, and it’s led some users to reconsider just how much of their information they want to share with online platforms.

Can You Do Anything to Limit How Much Data TikTok Collects?

Some user information can’t be “protected.” The app needs to establish peoples’ identities with email addresses, phone numbers, and the like, so it can try to prevent an influx of spammers, scammers, and other ne’er do wells. Birth dates are necessary to enforce age-appropriate rules for content consumption and help fight predatory activities.

When it comes to the other data that TikTok collects, though, there are a few steps you can take to keep at least some of it private.

• Disable location tracking when signing up for a TikTok account
• Don’t sync contacts and Facebook friends with your TikTok account
• Turn off permission for camera and microphone access
• Turn off other settings like “Suggest your account to others” and “Targeted ads”
• For maximum privacy, set your account to “Private” rather than “Public”

You can find most of those options in your phone settings, or the “Settings and privacy” section of the app that’s accessible from your TikTok profile.

Making these changes won’t prevent the platform from collecting a large amount of your data, but it may help to keep at least some of your personal information personal.