With Tiktok being in the hands of the United States as of January 22nd, 2026, changes made to privacy policies alarmed many of its users. 

When the app was opened, users were met with a pop up message informing them that changes have been made to Tiktok, and to agree to their new terms in order to continue using the platform. Titled “Updates to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy” the changes include:

• Updated corporate entity
• New types of location information (including device geolocation), we may collect from you, with your permission.
• How we use your information we have collected or will collect to show you ads outside TikTok

With the deal, the United States would take control of 80% of the company, while ByteDance, the original owner of TikTok, would have control of the other 20%. TikTok was forced by the U.S government to hand over the majority of the company to prevent a ban in the U.S.

Many people would look over this new list of terms and blindly click agree so they could go about their day. However, many people might not understand what these might mean. As of now, TikTok has expanded the amount of sensitive information that users share, some of them include things such as ethnicity, religious beliefs, financial information, citizenship, and immigration status. 

Though TikTok has stated that users can opt out of location tracking, the app can still approximate your general location through your IP address.

Along with tracking sensitive information, users who interact with any AI tool offered on the app will have their interactions stored in a database, which includes prompts and AI-generated outputs created.

Some people expressed genuine concern and fear about these policy changes.  People also deleted the app in fear that they would be leaking too much information. Senior Adela Hanic shared that “I think it’s invasive. Having users’ precise location definitely raises red flags and makes us question if our data is really safe online.” The United States originally feared that American safety was being compromised by China. Which is what prompted a purchase and almost complete ownership of the company, though it seems the U.S is doing the same thing. 

Many users also reported that TikTok was censoring videos related to major issues the country is facing. Videos covering ICE, President Donald Trump, and the Epstein Files seemed less likely to appear in the app’s algorithm. A spokeswoman has denied these claims and stated that no changes to the app’s algorithm have been made since the U.S had acquired the app.