TikTok Privacy: Who Can See Which TikTok Users I Follow?

Once you’ve signed up for a TikTok account and started watching the videos available on your TikTok feed, you may not give much thought to the information you’re making public.

Maybe you should.

You’re obviously not going to put your name, address, email, and phone number in a TikTok post, and the social media platform keeps info like that private. However, other types of information about you can be discovered and collected from your account — even if you never create TikTok videos.

For example, let’s say you’ve applied for a new job or are involved in a messy court fight. Do you really want potential employers or lawyers to know which type of social media content you like to watch in your spare time?

Most people would say “no,” of course, but that information is readily available on TikTok. All anyone has to do is find your profile and click on “Following” to check out the full list of other accounts on the app that you follow. They may then take a look at those accounts and make negative assumptions about you based on the videos you’ve chosen to watch.

A key step in protecting your TikTok privacy is hiding your “following” list. There are two ways to do it.

Make Your Account Private

There are definite pros and cons to using this method, and here’s the most important “con.” When you set your TikTok profile to “private,” no one can see your posts unless they already follow you — and you have to approve every follower request. You definitely won’t receive large audiences or go viral with a private account.

However, taking this step ensures that no one can ever tell which TikTok users you follow.

1. Click on the “Profile” icon at the bottom right of your home screen.
2. Tap the three horizontal lines at the top right of your profile page.
3. Choose “Settings and privacy” from the popup menu.
4. Click “Privacy.”
5. Move the “Private account” toggle switch to the right.

Mission accomplished — but if you only want to hide your following list without affecting your overall visibility on the platform, there’s a better approach.

Make Your Following List Private

It’s just as easy to protect only the list of accounts you follow, and it takes just seconds.

1. Visit the “Settings and privacy” page as described above, and tap on “Privacy.”
2. Scroll down to and click on “Following list,” and change the setting from “Everyone” to “Only you.”

From now on, you’re the only person who can see who you’re following; the list is hidden from everyone else. If that doesn’t take care of any issues you’re concerned about, you can always take the next step and make your account private if necessary.