The whole world seems to be on TikTok. And why not? It’s a great outlet for people who love to dance, lip-sync, and improvise in comedy. You can let your personality really shine. What about your personal information?
Like most social media apps, how TikTok collects user information is always heavily scrutinized. What does TikTok know about you? What is the company doing with the information itself? And can TikTok sign you up without you knowing?
TikTok Controversy
In 2018, TikTok was fined $5.7 million for illegal collection of names, pictures, locations, and addresses of children 13 or younger.
The company was aware that many young people were using the app, but they did not ask for permission from parents or guardians to collect all this data.
This news spread all over the world and a veil of suspicion hung over TikTok. Since then, they have changed their privacy policy regarding their youngest users.
The policy lists that they only collect usernames, passwords, and dates of birth. However, although the news of this punishment caused some uneasiness among parents, the popularity of the application is increasing day by day.
Is TikTok Logging You Without Your Knowing?
Answering this question is not as simple as it seems. First of all, no one really knows what apps do when you give them access to all your data.
Even when you examine the privacy policies in detail, you will see that there is no 100% guarantee that your information will be protected.
This is also the case with TikTok. There are rumors that TikTok is a Chinese spy app, but there is no evidence to support this claim. When you sign up for TikTok, you must allow it to access your microphone and camera.
Once you do this, theoretically TikTok can access them at any time and log you in without your knowledge. And this is the same for all apps that ask for these permissions, including Instagram and WhatsApp.
What Does TikTok Do With Your Information?
When it comes to apps like TikTok, what matters is not what information they can get from you, but what they do with it. TikTok’s official website has a list of ways to use your information. It’s probably best to check before signing up.
That way, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. But even if it’s too late and you’re already lip syncing every day, you can still keep yourself informed. TikTok uses your data to:
- Analyze data, generate statistics and improve their services.
- Customization of content.
- To send you promotional materials directly from them and from third parties.
- To inform their algorithms and learn about your interests.
- To detect malicious behavior or illegal activity.
These are just examples of the ways TikTok uses your data. Some make sense, others are a bit confusing. TikTok claims that they do not sell their users’ personal information to third parties. However, they do share certain personal data with their business partners.
What Kind of Information Does TikTok Collect?
Now that you know what TikTok does with your information, it’s natural to wonder what exactly they have access to. Some of these are expected, such as age, username, password, location, and language.
You are probably aware that they own everything you create in the app, all your user content. They will have your phone and social media contacts, along with your payment information. Simply put, TikTok will know everything about your phone.
Model, phone operator, time zone, your keystroke pattern, etc. They can read all messages from users on the platform. And if you log into another social media platform, they also collect your information from those services.
Is TikTok Safe?
No one knows what happens to your data when you publish it to any app, including TikTok. Perhaps it would be wise to suspect TikTok of malicious intent, given the legal problems they face.
However, it cannot be said that other social media applications are much better. If you want to make sure TikTok doesn’t save you without your knowledge, don’t install it on your phone.
It’s also important to be aware of what TikTok says in its privacy policy. And that users do their best to stay safe online.
Do you think TikTok is recording you? Let us know in the comments section below.
