TikTok
- The policy allows AI training; it does not describe an opt-out.
- Your data is used for personalized ads, including by third-party ad companies.
- Data is shared with partners and affiliates; you can opt out.
- The policy describes staff access for safety and legal checks.
TikTok takes a broad, license to your content (including AI chats) to train models, ads, and biometrics, with little training opt-out.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
- Capped at C (the answers alone would give D): Uses your content for AI training with no opt-out
Collected
Account info, videos, messages, AI chats, clipboard, contacts, location, device IDs, and partner data.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We collect your information in three ways: information that you provide, automatically collected information, and information from other sources.”
Training
They use your content and chats to run the app, personalize feeds, show ads, and train AI models.
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Privacy policy
“To review, support, improve, and develop the Services, and train, test, and improve technology, such as machine learning models and algorithms”
Sharing
Service providers, affiliates, advertisers, sellers, researchers, and the public if your account is public.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We share Information We Collect with service providers and business partners as necessary to help us perform business operations and for business purposes”
Kept
They keep data as long as they say they need it, including to improve the app after you leave.
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Privacy policy
“We retain information for as long as necessary to provide the Services and for the other purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.”
Controls
You can delete your account in the app, manage ads, and request access or deletion.
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Privacy policy
“Through your in-app settings, you can directly update your account information, request a copy of your data, or deactivate or delete your account”
Fine print
They can ban you without notice, you them, and is capped at $100.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“We reserve the right, at any time and without prior notice, to ban or suspend your account, or restrict your access to features of the Platform, at our sole discretion”
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
Delete or deactivate your account
In-app settings; privacy policy links “deletion here” and “deactivation here”
Manage ad tracking
In-app settings → “Ads”; non-users can use the TikTok Ad Network webform
Request a copy or deletion of your data
https://www.tiktok.com/legal/report/privacy or in-app settings
Turn off device location and contacts
Your device settings for the TikTok app
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
You still own your posts, but you give TikTok a wide, lasting right to copy, change, and share them, including to train AI.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“Our license to use Your Content includes our rights to access, reproduce (e.g. to copy), distribute, share, download, adapt or make derivative works”
For example, a private draft or AI prompt can still be used to train their models even if you later delete the video.
Your videos, messages, and AI chats can be used to train their AI. The policy does not give a simple off switch for that.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“train, test, and improve technology, such as machine learning models and algorithms, including by analyzing how people are using the Services”
For example, a question you type into a TikTok AI feature can be used to improve that feature for everyone.
They can pull face and voice data from your videos. They only promise extra permission where the law already requires it.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We may collect biometric identifiers and biometric information as defined under US laws, such as faceprints and voiceprints, from your user content.”
For example, a dancing video could be used to make a faceprint even if you never tapped a biometrics button.
If your use of the app causes a lawsuit, you may have to pay their legal bills.
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Terms of service
“You agree to , and TikTok USDS Joint Venture and our affiliates, service providers, and business partners”
For example, if a clip you posted leads to a claim against TikTok, they can ask you to cover their lawyers.
They can shut your account with no warning if they decide you broke the rules or for other reasons they list.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“We reserve the right, at any time and without prior notice, to ban or suspend your account, or restrict your access to features of the Platform, at our sole discretion”
For example, you could lose access overnight and still not get a chance to download everything first.
If you tap sync, they copy your address book and match it to TikTok users.
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Privacy policy
“Your phone and social network contacts, with your permission. If you choose to sync your contacts, we will collect information, such as names, phone numbers, and email addresses”
For example, your friend’s phone number can be uploaded even if they never joined TikTok.
Companies outside TikTok send them what you do on other sites and apps so they can target ads.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“Advertisers, publishers, and measurement and other partners provide us with information about you and the actions you have taken outside of our websites and apps”
For example, a store’s website pixel can tell TikTok you looked at shoes, then you see shoe ads in the feed.
If you post publicly, other users get a forever right to reuse your content in their own posts.
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Terms of service
“you also grant to each user of the Platform a non-exclusive, , and , worldwide license to use Your Content”
For example, someone can stitch your video into theirs and keep using that even after you delete the original.
People who work for TikTok can read your posts and related data when they think the rules were broken.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“You agree that we can use automated tools and human moderators to review Your Content (as defined in Section 3.5) and associated metadata on the Platform”
For example, a private message reported as spam could be read by a human moderator.
They say they do not sell data where state law blocks it, but they still share with many partners for ads and business.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“we do not sell your personal information or share your personal information with third parties for purposes of cross-context behavioral advertising where restricted by applicable law”
For example, in California they may treat some ad sharing as restricted, while still sending data to ad vendors.
Kids under 13 (14 in Florida) are supposed to use a more limited kids version, and teens have some features blocked.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“If you are under 13 years of age, or under 14 years of age in Florida, you may not use the Platform, unless you are using the separate Under 13 Experience.”
For example, a 12-year-old on the main app should be moved to the Under 13 Experience if TikTok notices.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- model training
- Using your content and conversations as examples to teach an AI system, which can then echo them in future answers. For example, a story you write in a chatbot may be studied by the company to make the next version of the bot.
- service providers
- Outside companies that handle your data on the app's instructions, such as a cloud host or an email sender. For example, the company that stores the app's files in the cloud sees your data but only does what the app tells it.
- retention
- How long a company keeps your data before deleting it. For example, a policy might keep your messages for 30 days after you delete them, or for as long as it likes.
- biometric
- Measurements of your body that identify you, like your face, fingerprint or voice. For example, a selfie used to unlock the app or a voice recording matched to you.
- indemnify
- You promise to pay the company's legal costs and losses if your use of the service gets it sued. For example, if you post a song you do not own and the label sues the app, you owe the app's lawyer bills.
- affiliates
- Other companies owned by or connected to the same parent company. For example, if you use one app, its sister apps under the same owner may also get your data.
- royalty-free
- The company can use your content without ever paying you for it. For example, your photo can appear in the app's ads and you get nothing.
- perpetual
- Lasting forever, with no end date. For example, a perpetual licence means the company can keep using your video years after you leave.
- irrevocable
- Cannot be taken back or cancelled once given, even if you change your mind or delete your account. For example, an irrevocable licence to your photos means you cannot withdraw it later.
- worldwide license
- You let the company use your content anywhere on earth, usually for free and for as long as it likes. For example, a video you post can be shown in ads in any country without asking you again.
- human review
- Company staff or contractors may read your messages or content, usually to check for rule breaking. For example, a flagged private chat with an AI can be read by a person at the company.
- sell or share
- Under California law, selling means passing your data to others for money or other value; sharing means passing it on for targeted ads. For example, letting an ad network use your browsing history in return for ad space counts as a sale.
How we got here · grade F · score 30/100 · 15 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 1 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect far more than account and posts: contacts, clipboard, precise location, keystroke patterns, in-app browsing, and data from advertisers.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
They may take faceprints and voiceprints from your videos and use content analysis for effects, ads, and models. Extra permission is only where law requires it.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
They say they train machine learning models on how you use the app and on user content, messages, and AI interactions, with no training opt-out described.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
They say human moderators review content and metadata to enforce the Terms and Community Guidelines and keep the community safe.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
Advertisers and partners send them off-app activity, ad IDs, and pixels so they can target and measure ads on and off TikTok. You can change some ads settings.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They say they do not sell or share for cross-context ads where law restricts it, but they share with affiliates, ad partners, and others; ads settings offer some control.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You own your content, but you grant an irrevocable, sublicensable, worldwide license that includes training models, and other users get a perpetual license if you share.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
You can delete your account in the app, but they keep information as long as needed for the service, legal reasons, and improving the app, with no set wipe deadline.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
They infer age, gender, and interests and personalize your feed. The policy does not describe viewing or turning off a lasting memory profile.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They say they use reasonable measures to protect information but do not describe audits or a vulnerability program in these documents.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
Under 13 (14 in Florida) must use a separate kids experience. Under 18 needs a parent’s permission and some features are restricted; they say they monitor underage use.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
Both documents are dated July 15, 2026. Terms promise notice of material changes; the privacy policy may just update the date. Retention periods stay vague.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
They can ban or suspend your account at any time without prior notice, at their sole discretion, for reasons they list.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
The app is “as is,” liability is capped at $100 or what you paid in 12 months, and you must indemnify them for claims related to your use.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
Not stated in the documents.
The privacy policy is 4,107 words at a professional or legal expert level (Flesch reading ease 0.7); the terms are 6,456 words at a professional or legal expert level.
