TikTok presents users in the US with a new privacy policy; the changes were part of the app's US ownership transition and now allow precise location tracking
According to its new privacy policy, TikTok now collects more data on its users, including their precise location …
WiredReece Rogers
Context & Ripple Effects
TikTok’s US data practices have expanded in stages: its 2021 policy added potential collection of biometric information from user content, while a later Europe-focused update acknowledged cross-border staff access. The ownership-transition policy makes precise location the latest concrete category in that arc.
The change also creates the policy basis for location-oriented product features, reflected in the subsequent opt-in Local Feed for nearby content and commerce. That makes the disclosure consequential beyond legal wording: it affects what TikTok can build and personalize in the US.
First-order effects
US users are newly subject to a policy that permits TikTok to collect precise location, expanding the data available to the platform under its revised terms.
TikTok gains a clearer stated basis for location-dependent personalization and local content or commercial features during its US ownership transition.
Second-order effects
Location-based product design becomes more viable for TikTok, including surfacing nearby events, businesses, travel, and news; users face a sharper trade-off between local relevance and location-data exposure.
If ownership restructurings continue to coincide with revised data terms, US scrutiny may increasingly focus not only on who controls a platform but also on the operational data rights retained after a transition.
Location data is becoming a strategic input for social platforms’ local discovery and commerce products, making privacy-policy language a more direct determinant of product-market scope.
The trend: Social platforms are tying broader data permissions to local discovery and commerce features, shifting privacy policy from a compliance document into a product-expansion lever.
NO ONE is talking about Tiktok's latest update on their terms and services -tracks your citizenship/immigration status -Religious beliefs -mental and physical health diagnosis -your race -if you're TRANS or NONBINARY -sexual preferences and orientation [image]
No one is talking about it because: 1) That part isn't new. It's been in TikTok's privacy policy since at least January 2025. 2) It's not unique to TikTok... Privacy laws require businesses to identify the kinds of information that they may collect from you and for what purpose…
Saw a bunch of people worried about the TikTok US privacy policy. This article has a good overview - that part's not new, and the specific wording is because of California's privacy law. A bunch of other social media apps have exactly the same text in their terms. techcrunch.co…
Is there such a thing as too much granularity when it comes to platform data transparency? — Case in point ... “TikTok users freak out over app's ‘immigration status’ collection — here's what it means.” — techcrunch.com/2026/01/23/t...
TikTok is now under US ownership and their new ToS reads like a guide to giving fascists everything they need to put you on a list. — They're collecting information about immigration status, citizenship, sexual orientation, whether you're trans or non binary and physical or men…
It's so funny that Republicans and Democrats alike were in such a moral panic about how the Chinese gov't would use our TikTok data. And somehow never for a moment did they pause to consider how right-wing US billionaires would use it. www.wired.com/story/tiktok...
According to its new privacy policy, TikTok now collects more data on its users, including their precise location, after majority ownership officially switched to group based in the US.
If you haven't heard enough yet to reconsider use of TikTok (now that the regime controls the algorithms), read this from @wired.com about data collection/privacy changes: — TikTok Adds Precise Location Tracking; — TikTok Now Tracks AI Interactions; — TikTok Expands Its Ads Ne…
🚨 Many red flags in Larry Ellison's TikTok latest Terms and Services update. - The app can now collect exact GPS coordinates, moving beyond general city-level tracking. - Tracks your citizenship, immigration status. - Your religious beliefs. - Your race. - Mental and physical [im…
“According to its new privacy policy, TikTok now collects more data on its users, including their precise location, after majority ownership officially switched to a group based in the US” Perhaps we should temper the Sinophobia https://www.wired.com/...
TikTok now owned by Zionist Larry Ellison Immediately updates privacy policy to geolocate your device Protecting you from Chinese surveillance 🙏 [image]
NGL if you're posting on TikTok you don't care about privacy, so why does it matter, not even batman would get half the shit out of me that people just freely post on there [embedded post]
It's funny, I recall all those American technologists telling me seizing TikTok was necessary because China would use it to spy on Americans. — Most people who otherwise understand tech have almost *no* understanding whatsoever of how data is collected, where, by whom, or how i…
Social media is over. On the one hand, users are incapable of using the platforms for open thinking and are mired in identitarian idiocy, whether on X or Bluesky. On the other hand, the ownership structures of most platforms are undemocratic and illiberal. The disadvantages ou…
I have to say most comments and qrps show people don't read the article because it even mentioned that Twitter uses a similar location tracking thing — It's trendy to hate on TikTok but still I don't think it's worth keeping - same with Twitter [embedded post]
To delete your TikTok account without agreeing to the new TOS: — 1) put your phone in airplane mode — 2) open TikTok and go to your profile — 3) go to settings and scroll down to delete account — 4) turn airplane mode off — 5) delete your account — Credit to @ kimsair…