With the change in TikTok ownership, TikTok users in the U.S. are collectively freaking out over the company’s updated privacy policy after being alerted to the changes through an in-app message. The revised document details the U.S. joint venture’s conditions for using its service, including the specific location information it may collect. Many users are also posting to social media about language found in the policy, which says that TikTok could collect sensitive information about its users, including their “sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status.”
But despite the panic, this disclosure isn’t new — and it doesn’t mean what many users fear. The same language appeared in TikTok’s privacy policy before the ownership deal closed, and it’s primarily there to comply with state privacy laws like California’s Consumer Privacy Act, which requires companies to agree to disclose to consumers what “sensitive information” is collected. Similar disclosures appear in other social media apps’ policies.
To understand why users are concerned — and why the policy reads this way — it helps to look at both the current political climate and the legal requirements TikTok is navigating.
Specifically, the policy states that TikTok could process information from users’ content or what they may share through surveys, including information about their “racial or ethnic origin, national origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information.”
It’s not surprising that Americans would find this type of language troubling, especially given the current political climate.
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