TikTok

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TikTok

Basic Information
Release Year	2016
Product Type	Social media
In Production	Yes
Official Website	https://tiktok.com

TikTok is a social media platform developed by the Chinese internet technology company ByteDance Ltd. The app has been cited with numerous privacy concerns that eventually led to Montana banning it in May 2023.

Consumer impact summary

Overview of concerns that arise from the conduct towards users of the product (if applicable):

• User Freedom
• User Privacy
• Business Model
• Market Control

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User freedom

• The app version requires an account to use the service.

User privacy

As per Privacy Policy:

• Automatically collects unreasonable heaps of information to fingerprint the user:

Technical Information we collect about you. We collect certain information about the device you use to access the Platform, such as your IP address, user agent, mobile carrier, time zone settings, identifiers for advertising purposes, model of your device, the device system, network type, your screen resolution and operating system, app and file names and types, keystroke patterns or rhythms, battery state, audio settings and connected audio devices.

• "Keystroke patterns or rhythms" is particularly notable as the in-app browser has been demonstrated to listen to inputs from keyboard and screen, as well as injecting JavaScript code.

• Also collects approximate location based on "SIM card and/or IP address" and precise location such as GPS.
• Serves personalized advertisements and runs its own AI-powered analytics tool for advertisers.

Extensive List of Data Collected and Downloadable by the User in the Section "Downloadable and Collected Data"

Incidents

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Incident	Year	Background Info	Aftermath	Related Article	Related Video
Violations of Children's Privacy Laws	2019—	In 2019, the US Department of Justice sued TikTok and parent company ByteDance as well as its associated companies for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The companies knowingly allowed children under 13 to make accounts and unlawfully collected data and personal information of said children without parental consent.	TikTok, as of 2020, still has complaints about allegedly still collecting and using personal data of children under 13.	https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/08/ftc-investigation-leads-lawsuit-against-tiktok-bytedance-flagrantly-violating-childrens-privacy-law
Suppressing "ugly", poor, or disabled creators	2020—	The Intercept published a report in 2020 stating that obtained internal documents from TikTok instructed moderators to limit the amount of videos with people who have "ugly facial looks". "abnormal body shape", or are in poor or dirty environments. The documents claim that these types of videos are "not the ideal video form of our platform"	A TikTok spokesperson stated that the guidelines were "an early blunt attempt at preventing bullying but are no longer in place"	The documents themselves
Censorship of content talking negatively Donald Trump's government, ICE or related and update of privacy policy	2026—	In January 2026, TikTok's ownership was transferred to Oracle. After this transference, the privacy policy was updated. Several users have reported their content that is against Donald Trump or ICE, or anything related ends up shadowbanned or flagged "to be reviewed".			https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktze-X2rG4E
Running GenAI ads without permission	2026-present	On 5 February 2026, Rebekah Saltsman, CEO and co-founder of Finji, a game publisher known for titles such as Tunic and Night in the Woods, made a post on Bluesky asking people to send screen captures of "Finji ads that look distinctly UN-Finji-like". Saltsman explained how platforms were running AI versions of paid ads without the knowledge or consent of the company paying for the ads. Saltsman also explained that the company who paid for the ads has no way of seeing the AI versions of those despite the audience seeing them. An IGN article would later come out where Saltsman detailed how TikTok was running ads that were modified to be sexualized despite Finji having all AI features turned off. Saltsman stated how Finji has no way to view, edit or disable the AI generated ads and that the only way they were made aware of the issue was through audience members.		https://www.ign.com/articles/tunic-night-in-the-woods-publisher-says-tiktok-is-creating-and-running-racist-genai-ads-for-its-games-without-permission

GDPR infringement Article 13(1)(f) & Article 46(1) GDPR (2025)

On 2 May 2025 the Irish Supervisory Authority fines TikTok a total of €530 million for infringement of Articles 13(1)(f) GDPR and Article 46(1) GDPR. The Irish Supervisory Authority (SA) has ordered TikTok to suspend the transfer of data from users in the EEA to the People’s Republic of China and to bring its processing operations into compliance with Chapter V of the GDPR within a period of six months.

On 2 August 2024, the US government sued TikTok and its affiliates for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA"), and its rules. The DOJ alleges TikTok collected, stored, and processed large amounts of data from millions of child users on its app.

Downloadable and collected data

From the downloadable data from the hamburger menu in the account tab > "Settings and Privacy" > "Account" > "Download your data" and selecting "TXT" file format the data collected, the provided data, as formatted at a directory level, includes:

• Your activity:
  • Activity Summary (Videos Shared/Watched/Commented On)
  • Ad Interests (Categories of Ads selected as "Interested")
  • Donations
  • Fundraisers
  • Hashtags (Used in public videos)
  • Instant Form Ads Responses (Details inputted on forms on the bottom of some ads)
  • Login History (Date, Time, IP, Device Model, Device System (OS), Network Type (Wi-Fi or Cellular), Carrier when opening app)*
  • Most Recent Location Data (GPS Location, Local Time and Region, if 'Location' permission enabled)*
  • Off TikTok Activity (Partner Apps Opened (e.g. eBay, Spotify, W3W)
  • Purchaces (LIVE Gifts Given/Recieved)
  • Searches (Timestamped Search History)
  • Share History (Videos Shared Off-App)
  • Status (App Version, Screen Resolution, Advertising ID and Device ID)*
  • Watch History (Timestamped Watch History)
• Profile and Settings
  • AI-Moji (Unsure)
  • Autofill (Autofill of Instant Form Ads prompts with personal info)
  • Block List (Time stamped list of users blocked)
  • Follower (Time stamped list of who has followed you, including users with private following lists)
  • Following (Time stamped list of who you have followed)
  • Profile Information (Profile Photo, Profile Video, Username, Phone No., Email, Bio, Birthday, Gender, Likes Recieved, 3rd Party App connections (e.g. Google)
  • Settings (User-Readable Config File of TikTok account settings)
• TikTok LIVE
  • Go LIVE History
  • Go LIVE Settings
  • Watch LIVE History
  • Watch LIVE Settings
• TikTok Shop
  • Product Browsing History (Timestamped history of viewed items, and what shop sells the item)
  • Product Reviews
  • Return and Refunds History
  • Saved Address Information
  • Shopping Cart List
  • Vouchers (Timestamps of vouchers offered/used)
  • Communication With Shops (DMs to shops from the "Message Seller" option in TikTok Shop)
  • Current Payment Information (Censored Debit/Credit Card Details linked to TikTok Shop Account)
  • Customer Support History
  • Order Dispute History
  • Order History
• Comments (Every Comment ever left on ANY video)
• Direct Messages (Every DM sent either way)
• Income+ Wallet (Creator Rewards Wallet)
• Likes and Favourites
  • Favourite:
    • Effects
    • Hashtags
    • Sounds
    • Videos
  • Like List (Every Video Liked)
• Location Reviews
• Posts
  • Posts (Every Posted Video with sound, settings and timestamp)
  • Recently Deleted Posts

*Collected on App Open

See also

• ByteDance
• TikTok and AI-powered ad tracking
• TikTok's Privacy Policy change and increased censorship for US users