The shocking data TikTok collects

April 8, 2024

By Kim Komando

When you agree to TikTok’s terms of service after downloading the app, you’re handing communist China the keys to the kingdom. I dug up all the creepy things TikTok tracks and how it does it. Plus, how to quickly find red flags in the terms and conditions.

From fingerprints to file names

Think the TikTok paranoia is overblown? It’s not. Here’s the laundry list of data you give up every time you scroll. It’s a lot:

• Your name, age, username, email address, password, phone number and location.
• Your IP address, cellphone carrier, time zone, the model of your device and the OS you use.
• Biometric identifiers, like facial IDs and voiceprints. Yep.
• The content of your messages, plus exactly when you send, receive and read them.
• If you buy stuff from the TikTop shop, your purchase information, including your credit card numbers, billing and shipping addresses.
• Your activities on other websites and apps (or in stores), including info on what you purchased.
• File names and types.
• Your keystroke patterns and rhythms.
• Objects and scenery that show up in your videos, including tourist attractions, shops and other landmarks.
• The web pages you visit the most and how you interact with them.
• Any text, images and videos on your clipboard.
• Information about your videos, images and audio.

Seem like a fair trade for cute kitty videos and a new dance challenge? Didn’t think so.

But wait, there’s more

TikTok also embeds data into images and ads to track the time and date you view a page, complete with a description. The amount of data TikTok collects is so extensive that it can come dangerously close to cloning your entire phone. Where TikTok stores its data is also a major red flag for Congress. Information collected in the U.S. is connected straight to servers in China. 

Read that fine print

I’ve been warning you about the communist China app for a while now, but scanning any app’s terms and conditions too quickly could put you at risk. Here’s how to quickly spot red flags:

• Use Ctrl + F on Windows (or Command + F on a Mac) to search for buzzwords like “purchase,” “messages” and “third party.” Pay attention to vague words like “may,” which is when they’re trying to get away with something sneaky.
• Search for sections like “How we collect your personal data” to see what an app collects on you and how they do it. 
• Look for words like “geolocation” and “geotargeting” to find out if your location information is collected. 
• Check out the Terms of Service, Didn’t Read tool. It flags shady language in privacy policies on today’s top apps and gives them a rating. TikTok got an E. I also give it an E: Egregiously greedy, don’t download.

Don’t forget to share this article with family and friends so they know the risks using TikTok poses.