TikTok has changed its terms and conditions and privacy policies for American users, expanding its ability to target advertising and track the location of people who give the app permission to do so.
The update came after ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, on Thursday spun out an American TikTok entity as part of a deal to loosen the app’s ties to China or face a ban in the United States.
The revised privacy policy include a statement that the new U.S. TikTok will share some data with TikTok’s global operations to ensure that users have an “interoperable experience.” It said it was sharing that data “consistent with applicable law.”
American users on Thursday started seeing a pop-up message as they logged into the app asking them to agree to the new terms.
Here’s what to know.
Privacy Policy
The language around user location permissions was updated.
TikTok’s previous language on this, found through the Wayback Machine, an internet archive, said at least one version of the app did not collect precise location information. But it noted that if users scrolled on a different version and they had granted the app permission, TikTok might collect that information.
The new version of the privacy policy says that if users enable location services, TikTok can now collect approximate or precise location information. People can opt out of this through their device settings.
That kind of data tracking has become more common across social media, said Caitriona Fitzgerald, a policy director at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based nonprofit.
Targeted Advertising
TikTok’s targeted advertising terms also changed. The pop-up message said the new terms changed the way the app would use people’s information “to show you ads outside TikTok.”
The previous terms and conditions said TikTok would use the data it collected to provide users with “tailored advertising” and other personal features like custom search results.
The language in the new policy was more sweeping. It said TikTok would use the data it collected from users and third parties to show “customized ads and other sponsored content” both on TikTok and on other websites. Users can adjust their advertising permissions in the app, it said.
Often, “companies are allowed to collect data and use it in lots of ways we don’t expect, including to advertise to us,” Ms. Fitzgerald said.
“You go to a website and you look for, say, medical symptoms. There are dozens of trackers on that site that are sending what you’re looking for back to those advertising companies,” she added. They then use that data “to advertise to you all over the web and within their apps.”
Generative A.I.
TikTok’s previous terms and conditions did not have a section on generative artificial intelligence. The new terms include one.
The language outlines some new rules around making and posting A.I. content. Some of them forbid people from implying any A.I.-generated content is real, including by removing watermarks or metadata that might help identify it as fake.
Emmett Lindner is a business reporter for The Times.
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