TikTok
Est. 2016
Country of Origin: China
Release to America: 2018
TikTok offers a creative space where people can create, edit, interact with, and share short videos that are sorted into different users’ streams of content
Background, Terms of Service, Implications,
& Solutions
History Debuted in 2018, TikTok quickly amassed a following. The surge in popularity can be attributed largely to its automatic transfer of users from the social media platform “Musical.ly”. In 2017, the Chinese company ByteDance purchased Musical.ly along with its 100 millions users for $800 million and subsequently rebranded the platform as “TikTok”.
Popularity Today, TikTok has over 170 million active users in the U.S. and over 1 billion active users worldwide.
Congressional Concern TikTok’s privacy policy has recently drawn significant attention, spurred by Congressional efforts to ban the platform. Their argument centers on TikTok’s status as a potential national security threat, citing concerns over the extensive data held by the Chinese-based company on U.S. citizens. While Congress correctly highlights the national security threat of TikTok’s data collection practices, their focus overlooks a broader issue: the infringement upon American rights inherent in the privacy policies of all social media platforms, both domestic and international. TikTok plays a major role in this violation, but so do several U.S. companies as well. Congress should instead focus on implementing data privacy legislation to ensure no platform can violate American users, regardless of the platform's country of origin. TikTok has until January 2025 to respond to Congress's concerns. Otherwise, TikTok will be banned in the U.S.
Terms of Service Summary The following is a summarized list of the data collected by TikTok: name; age; username; password; language; email; phone number; profile image; comments; photographs uploaded; live streams; audio recordings; video recordings; text on videos; hashtags used; uploaded videos and where, when, and by whom the content was created; video drafts; composed, sent, or received messages; communication with the platform’s staff; information found in a device’s clipboard with permission; payment information; billing and shipping addresses; a device’s contacts with permission; social network contacts with permission; choice and communication preferences; information provided by other partners, advertisers, or social media platforms such as activity on other websites or in stores, online or in person; mobile identifiers; cookies; publicly available information about a user; information provided by government authorities, professional organizations, and charity groups; IP address; mobile carrier; time zone settings; model of a device; the device system; network type; device IDs; screen resolution and operating system; app and file names and types; keystroke patterns or rhythms; battery state; audio settings; connected audio devices; location data based on SIM card or IP address; information from the videos a user uploads such as the identifying objects and scenery that appear, the existence and location within an image of face and body features and attributes, the name of the audio, and the text of the words spoken in the user’s content; and biometric identifiers and biometric information with permission.
Terms of Service Defined name; The name you entered when signing up for TikTok. age; The age you entered when signing up for TikTok. username; The username you entered when signing up for TikTok. password; The password you entered when signing up for TikTok. language; The language you chose when signing up for TikTok. email; The email you entered when signing up for TikTok. phone number; The phone number you entered when signing up for TikTok. profile image; The profile picture you uploaded or upload at any point. comments; Any comments you’ve made under your own posts or other user’s posts. photographs uploaded; If you press “allow all access” when TikTok asks to see your photos, TikTok can see any photos in your camera roll. They can also see any photos you upload to create a video. live streams; Any live stream you’ve done is recorded and saved. audio recordings; Any audio recordings used to make a video. video recordings; Any video recordings used to make a video. text on videos; If you use a text filter over your video, TikTok saves what the text says. hashtags used; Any hashtags used on posts or searched. uploaded videos and where, when, and by whom the content was created; Videos you uploaded and their locations, times, and user. video drafts; Any videos you save to drafts. composed, sent, or received messages; Any messages you’ve written or received. Written messages that are not sent are still saved. communication with the platform’s staff; Any communication you have with TikTok’s staff. information found in a device’s clipboard with permission; Any text you have copied on your device. payment information; The payment information you enter if you buy something through TikTok. billing and shipping addresses; Your billing and mail address. a device’s contacts with permission; If you press “allow all contacts”, TikTok will save all of your contacts on your device. social network contacts with permission; If you give permission, TikTok can save all of your social media followers and who you follow on various social media platforms. choice and communication preferences; How you choose to receive updates from TikTok, whether that is notifications, emails, or texts. information provided by other partners, advertisers, or social media platforms such as activity on other websites or in stores, online or in person; This is the data TikTok accumulates from third-party sources like advertisement agencies and data brokers. mobile identifiers; This is your Media Access Control (MAC) Address and your advertising ID. A MAC address is a unique string of letters and numbers assigned to your device and an advertising ID is a 32-digit number also assigned to your device. Both addresses are used by TikTok and advertising agencies to track your internet usage and behavior. cookies; These are bits of information websites store that help remember your actions, preferences, or identify your device. “Necessary cookies” are the information that ensures the website will function properly on your device. “Preference cookies” are the site preferences you’ve chosen like dark mode or language preference. “Advertising Cookies” or “Tracking Cookies” record your behavior across websites so companies can learn what to advertise to you and where to advertise to you. TikTok can obtain first-party cookies directly from the app or it can buy third-party cookies from advertisers selling your information. publicly available information about a user; Any public information about you online is collected by TikTok. Information provided by government authorities, professional organizations, and charity groups; This information does not specifically have to do with you. Based on your location, TikTok may have to comply with certain laws or policies. IP address; This is your device's Internet Protocol (IP) Address which is a string of numbers or letters assigned to a device, but unlike MAC addresses, you can change your IP address. Your Public IP address allows you to connect to the internet and your Private IP address allows you to connect to your local network. mobile carrier; The company you use for cellular service like Verizon, AT&T, etc. time zone settings; The time zone your device is set to. model of a device; The specific version of a company's product. For example, the “iPhone 12” or “Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra”. the device system; The core software and hardware components that work together to enable the device to function as intended. network type; The specific kind of network that is used to connect devices for communication and data exchange. TikTok uses this to adjust the video quality and speed based on how strong your network is. device IDs; Unique identifiers assigned to a specific device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or computer. It helps the system or application distinguish between different devices, allowing for personalized services, security, and tracking. For example, the IP address, MAC address, or advertising ID. screen resolution and operating system; Screen resolution is the number of pixels on a screen. Operating systems are the devices software programs like macOS, iOS, Windows, or Android. app and file names and types; The app name is the name of TikTok itself. This can change depending on your location. In China, TikTok is Douyin. The file names are the names of the videos or pictures uploaded by the user. File type is the format of the file like .mp3, .mov, etc. keystroke patterns or rhythms; data that tracks how a user types, including the speed and pattern of their keystrokes battery state; The current status of your battery. audio settings; The current volume setting and the source of audio output like headphones, speaker, etc. connected audio devices; Any devices connected to your phone via bluetooth or cords. location data based on SIM card or IP address; The SIM card in your device or your IP address can tell TikTok where you are physically located. information from the videos a user uploads such as the identifying objects and scenery that appear, the existence and location within an image of face and body features and attributes, the name of the audio, and the text of the words spoken in the user’s content; This is a nice way of saying they track every part of an uploaded video such as the people’s faces in the background or foreground of the video, the voices heard in the video, what can be heard in the video, and where the video takes place. This also means TikTok can track you if you are in the background of someone else’s video. biometric identifiers and biometric information with permission; Biometric identifiers and information are the unique physical identifiers you use for logging in and permissions. For example, your fingerprint and face ID are biometric data.