TikTok and AI-powered ad tracking: Difference between revisions

In 2025, [[TikTok]] unveiled new AI-driven tools like Insight Spotlight and Content Suite<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sato |first=Mia |date=June 4, 2025 |title=TikTok will give advertisers even more data on trends and users |url=https://www.theverge.com/news/678255/tiktok-advertiser-summit-ai-targeting-data-seo |access-date=2025-09-01 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=TikTok Inc. |date=2025-06-03 |title=Insights Spotlight: Stay Ahead Of Trends |url=https://ads.tiktok.com/business/en-US/blog/insights-spotlight-trends-tool |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=TikTok}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=TikTok Inc. |date=2025-06-03 |title=Content Suite: Find & Amplify The Best UGC |url=https://ads.tiktok.com/business/en-US/blog/content-suite-creator-ugc-library |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=TikTok}}</ref>, designed to help brands target users with unprecedented and invasive precision. However, while TikTok highlights the benefits for advertisers and engagement, the changes raise even more concerns about data harvesting, privacy, and the ethical use of user-generated content.

Criticism of TikTok’s expanded advertiser tools has centered on data privacy and the overwhelming extent of information collected from users<ref>{{Cite news |last=Laurinavičius |first=Rokas |last2=Baliūnaitė |first2=Ilona |date=Jun 25, 2020 |title=Guy Who Reverse-Engineered TikTok Reveals The Scary Things He Learned, Advises People To Stay Away From It |url=https://www.boredpanda.com/tik-tok-reverse-engineered-data-information-collecting/ |access-date=2025-09-05 |work=BoredPanda}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Klais |first=Brian |date=2022-01-20 |title=New Research Across 200 iOS Apps Hints that Surveillance Marketing is Still Going Strong |url=https://app.urlgeni.us/blog/new-research-across-200-ios-apps-hints-surveillance-marketing-may-still-be-going-strong |access-date=2025-09-05 |website=URL Genius}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Huddleston Jr |first=Tom |date=2022-02-08 |title=TikTok shares your data more than any other social media app — and it’s unclear where it goes, study says |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/08/tiktok-shares-your-data-more-than-any-other-social-media-app-study.html |access-date=2025-09-05 |work=CNBC}}</ref>. A 2025 report by Incogni Research in August identified TikTok as the most data-hungry major social media platform, noting that it collects over two dozen categories of personal data, including names, addresses, phone numbers, financial information, in-app messages, photos, videos, browsing history, and device identifiers<ref name=":2" />. Six of these categories — including names, addresses, and user-generated content — are shared with third-party entities for purposes such as targeted advertising<ref name=":2" />.