TikTok has shared a new privacy policy that will go into effect on Dec. 2, 2022. The good news about this policy is that at least Tiktok is now more transparent about what the company does with users' data. The bad news, however, is that this privacy policy shows this TikTok can share user data with China.
Rumors that TikTok has been transmitting data have been circulating for years. Back in the summer, the company admitted that Chinese employees have access to data from American users. But the new privacy policy allows data from European users to be shared as well. (1)
TikTok can share data not only with China, but also with Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. The biggest concerns, however, revolve around data sharing with China. According to the EU, China does not have the data protection in place and therefore there is no data agreement with China. It is not yet known what steps the EU will take.
In the Netherlands, at least, the ball has already started rolling. In parliamentary questions yesterday, the Lower House asked Minister Adriaansens of Economic Affairs and State Secretary Van Huffelen of Digitalization for clarification. The Chamber wants to know if the minister is willing to prevent TikTok from sharing this data.
TikTok has 1 billion users worldwide. An estimated 3 million Dutch people have a TikTok account. As a result, TikTok therefore has data on many people. According to the new privacy terms, the company collects profile information, user content (such as photos, videos and livestreams), direct messages, contacts, purchase information, research information and information shared with customer service from all these people.
It also collects technical information such as your IP address, device ID, location, and app usage. App usage involves duration and frequency, search history, interaction with other users, and content viewed. TikTok also collects inferred information such as your areas of interest.
Furthermore, TikTok also collects information from third parties. For example, advertising partners share information about user behavior outside the platform. Also, if you choose to sign in to TikTok through Facebook, Google or Instagram, information is exchanged between the services. So all in all, TikTok has a lot of information about a fifth of the world's population.
TikTok has previously come under scrutiny for violating the AVG. Namely, TikTok collected personal information from children for years. The Take Back Your Privacy Foundation and the Consumers Union have demanded demanded a damage claim of 1.5 billion from the social media platform. Action was also taken against TikTok in other countries.
1) https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/eea/new-privacy-policy/NL
