In short, it's best just to delete the app. However, deleting TikTok doesn't mean you're safe from foreign influence campaigns and efforts to steal your own personal information.
Deleting the app is a simple process for iOS and Android. Remember that deleting the app won't delete your data. To have your data removed from TikTok, you'll need to delete your account.
TikTok Collects a Lot of Data
TikTok also takes advantage of every access permission you give it, collecting information about your phone's model, screen resolution, current OS, phone number, email address, location, and even contact list.
One of the scary things about TikTok is how addictive it is; there's something for everyone, and TikTok's algorithm purposefully modifies what you see based on your interaction with certain content. If someone's a gym rat, they can find content ranging from relatable gym jokes to suggested workout routines.
TikTok has a long history of tracking its users' online behavior without their consent, and in 2021 it started automatically gathering biometric data. Further, according to The Ruck, in 2022 “an independent researcher found code allowing TikTok to log keystrokes.”
Can TikTok access your camera? Yes, TikTok can access your camera, but only if you give the app permission. Keep in mind, though, that denying TikTok's access to your camera will prevent you from shooting content through the app, but you can still upload already-recorded videos to the platform.
The popular social media app tracks its users' likes, dislikes and personal information, including email addresses, phone numbers and WiFi networks. Gizmodo senior technology reporter Thomas Germain showed CBS News how TikTok sweeps up user data, including access to users' contacts.
Is TikTok safe? It's as safe as just about any other social media platform. It doesn't infect your phone with malware, but it comes with some safety risks like scams and saved user data.
If you think TikTok is acting like Google or Meta when collecting data, you're not wrong. Consumer Reports (CR), a US-based nonprofit consumer organization, has revealed that TikTok gathers data on people who don't even use the app itself.
This is due to the fact that the app has a large library of videos on its app. This simply means that TikTok will need more storage space than most of the apps on your mobile phone.
If you are concerned that TikTok might be compromising your privacy, you can delete your account. Once you do this, TikTok says it will delete the data it collected from you within 30 days. (Some data, like private messages you sent to other users, might remain visible.)
If your content is not removed and the account not banned, however, we would still recommend deleting your content because any such videos would leave a negative mark on your account which would lead to a suppression of likes, comments, and views getting you shadowbanned.
77% of users say TikTok is a place where people can express themselves openly. 84% of TikTok users say they come across content to which they can relate. 70% of users say TikTok is a platform they would recommend to others. 77% of users say they read the comments on the posts and videos on TikTok.
TikTok is a social media platform for creating, sharing and discovering short videos. The app is used by young people as an outlet to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy, and lip-syncing, and allows users to create videos and share them across a community.
The app is owned by the company ByteDance, headquartered in Beijing.
It can badly affect your mental health. People who use social media excessively are reported to experience higher levels of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and FOMO. It can give you low self-esteem.
To delete your account, you have to have an email address or a phone number associated with the account. Adding either of those will let you delete the account. Force quit the app. Sometimes there might be a bug in the app that just needs to be restarted to let you delete the app.
If you've tried the app and decided it's not for you, here's how to delete your TikTok account: In the app, click the profile icon on the bottom right. Click the three-line icon on the top right. Click on settings and privacy > manage account > delete account.
A developer warned that TikTok's iPhone app could scrape passwords and other sensitive data with its in-app browser. But there is no evidence the app is doing that.
In the US, TikTok can collect biometric information including face and voiceprints.
When you register to TikTok, you have to give it access to your microphone and camera. Once you do that, theoretically, TikTok can access them at any time and record you without you knowing.