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Is TikTok safe?

From Is it safe?, in the HARD wiki · Updated
This article is about the TikTok social video app. For other apps, see Is it safe?.

Safe to use with care: TikTok is a mainstream app with a long record of fines over children’s data; tighten the settings and use Family Pairing for teens.

TikTok is a normal, widely used app. It does not need anything unusual on your phone, it offers two-step verification, and teen accounts start with stricter defaults: private, no direct messages under 16 and a 60-minute daily limit.

The real risks are how much it collects (including messages, contacts if you allow it, and keystroke patterns), a record of fines in the UK, Ireland and the US over children’s data, and an algorithm built to keep people watching.

Since January 2026 the US app has been run by TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, majority American-owned, with ByteDance keeping 19.9 per cent. It says US user data is held in Oracle’s US cloud. Outside the US, the app store seller is TikTok Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.[1][2][3]

The real risks

What TikTok itself says it collects, what regulators and courts have found, its security record and the scams that borrow its name. Each line links to the page it comes from.

What it collects

From TikTok’s own privacy policy:

  • Profile details: date of birth, username, password, email, phone number and profile photo.[2]
  • Everything you create, including videos, photos, comments and livestreams. It can collect content as you make or upload it, even if you never post it.[2]
  • Messages you send and receive, including chats with sellers. The policy says it scans and reviews content, messages and AI chats for safety and to enforce its rules.[2]
  • Your phone contacts and Facebook friends, but only if you choose to sync them.[2][4]
  • Approximate location from your IP address and SIM, and precise location only if you turn on location services for TikTok on your phone.[2]
  • Device details such as model, operating system, advertising IDs, network and battery state, plus keystroke patterns or rhythms.[2]
  • Face and voice information from your videos for effects, safety and moderation. TikTok says it does not use it to identify you and deletes it once an effect is applied.[2][5]
  • Purchase details, including card, billing and delivery information, when you buy Coins or shop.[2]

App store label. Apple’s App Store label says TikTok uses contact info and identifiers to track you across other companies’ apps, and links purchases, financial info, location, contacts, content, search and browsing history to you. Google Play says data is encrypted in transit and you can ask for it to be deleted.[3][6]

Regulators and courts

Fines, orders, investigations and lawsuits, newest first. A lawsuit is what the side bringing it alleges until a court decides.

WhenWhat happened
A US executive order approved the sale plan, with ByteDance limited to under 20 per cent and US user data kept in a cloud run by an American company.[7]
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined TikTok Technology Limited €530 million over EU users’ data accessed from China and an unclear privacy policy. TikTok had told it some EU data had been stored on servers in China.[8]
The US Supreme Court upheld the 2024 law requiring TikTok’s US operation to be split from ByteDance or shut down, citing the government’s concerns about data collection.[9]
Fourteen US state attorneys general, led by California and New York, sued TikTok. They allege it is designed to keep young people hooked and misleads the public about safety. These are allegations; no outcome is published.[10]
The US Justice Department, for the FTC, sued TikTok and ByteDance. It alleges they collected data from children under 13 without parents’ consent, breaking a 2019 order. These are allegations; the FTC page gives no outcome.[11]
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined TikTok €345 million over how it handled children’s data in 2020, including public-by-default settings and Family Pairing.[12]
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office fined TikTok £12.7 million for using under-13s’ data without parental consent; it estimated up to 1.4 million UK children under 13 used TikTok in 2020.[13]
Musical.ly, now TikTok, paid US$5.7 million to settle FTC allegations that it collected children’s data without parental consent, and agreed to take down videos made by under-13s.[14]

Changes that matter

  • : TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC took over the US app. Silver Lake, Oracle and MGX hold 15 per cent each and ByteDance 19.9 per cent. It says US data sits in Oracle’s US cloud and it controls US content moderation.[1]

Scams that use TikTok

Messages asking for your password or code
TikTok says it will never ask for your password, verification codes or other sensitive details. A message, email or text that does is likely phishing.[15]
Free likes, fans or Coins
Sites promising free likes, followers, Coins or other perks may be after your login. TikTok says never to trust them.[15]
Links to a fake login page
Scammers send links in messages, emails or videos that ask you to sign in to TikTok. Don’t open them; report them in the app.[15]
Sellers who want you to pay outside the app
On TikTok Shop, a link, QR code or request to pay a deposit or shipping fee elsewhere is a red flag. Purchases outside TikTok Shop are not protected.[16]

What to do

In order, with the place to find each one in TikTok.

  1. Turn on two-step verification.Profile → Menu ☰ → Settings and privacy → Security & permissions → 2-step verification. Choose at least two of phone, email or an authenticator app, then tap Turn on.[17][15]
  2. Make your account private.Profile → Menu ☰ → Settings and privacy → Privacy → turn on Private account. You then approve who follows and watches you, and others can’t Duet, Stitch or download your videos.[18]
  3. Stop contact syncing and account suggestions.Settings and privacy → Privacy → Suggest your account to others: turn off Contacts, Facebook friends and links (on by default for adults). In Sync contacts and Facebook friends, remove previously synced contacts.[4]
  4. Pair a teen’s account with Family Pairing.On both phones: Profile → Menu ☰ → Settings and privacy → Family Pairing → Continue → Parent or Teen. You can then set screen time, who can message them, search, Restricted Mode and more.[19]
  5. Turn on Restricted Mode for younger viewers.Profile → Menu ☰ → Settings and privacy → Content preferences → Restricted Mode. Set a passcode and turn it on. Do this on each account.[20]
  6. Filter words you don’t want in the feed.Settings and privacy → Content preferences → Filter keywords → Add keyword. You can add up to 100 words or hashtags.[21]
  7. Check for logins you don’t recognise.Settings and privacy → Security & permissions → Security alerts. Change your password straight away if anything looks wrong; that logs out other devices.[15]
  8. Turn off precise location.TikTok only collects precise location if location services are on for the app. Turn them off in your phone’s settings for TikTok.[2]

When not to use it

  • Children under 13. TikTok’s minimum age is 13, and its record includes fines for letting under-13s use the app without parental consent.[22][13][14]
  • Private conversations. TikTok’s policy says it scans and reviews messages, so use an app that is end-to-end encrypted, so only you and the other person can read it.[2]
  • Buying from links a creator or seller sends you outside TikTok Shop’s checkout. TikTok Shop says it does not protect those purchases.[23]

What HARD couldn’t verify

Claims you may see elsewhere that HARD couldn’t confirm from a primary source on 7 Nov 2026, so they aren’t in the record above.

  • Claims that TikTok hands US users’ data to the Chinese government: the US case rested on the risk of this, and HARD found no court or regulator finding that it happened. Ireland’s regulator did find EU data was accessed from China and some was stored there.
  • The menu path for turning off personalised ads could not be confirmed on a TikTok help page in this check.
  • The outcome of the 2024 US Justice Department case over children’s data was not shown on the FTC page HARD checked.
  • The UK ICO’s own page would not load; the fine was confirmed from the ICO’s press release on its newsroom service.

Questions

Is TikTok safe to use?

For most adults, yes, with care. It is a mainstream app with two-step verification and decent privacy controls. It collects a lot, including messages and keystroke patterns, and it has been fined in the UK, Ireland and the US over children’s data. Make your account private, stop contact syncing and turn on two-step verification.

Is TikTok safe for kids?

Not for under-13s; the minimum age is 13. For teens, accounts start private, direct messages are off under 16, there’s a 60-minute daily limit, and notifications stop at night. Link their account with Family Pairing so you can manage screen time, messages, search and Restricted Mode. Teens can tighten these settings but can’t loosen yours.

Is TikTok Chinese?

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, which has operations in China. In the US, since January 2026, the app has been run by TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, which is majority American-owned; ByteDance keeps 19.9 per cent. Outside the US, TikTok companies in Singapore and Ireland run it.

Who has my data if I’m in the US?

TikTok’s US privacy policy names TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC as the operator. The joint venture says US user data is held in Oracle’s US cloud. The policy also says some information may be sent outside the US, within limits set by US law.

Does TikTok sell my data?

Its US privacy policy says it does not sell your personal information. It does use your data for ads, and Apple’s label says it uses contact info and identifiers to track you across other companies’ apps.

Are TikTok messages private?

Not from TikTok. Its US privacy policy says it scans and reviews messages and their details for safety and to enforce its rules. For anything sensitive, use an end-to-end encrypted messaging app.

Social video on HARD: Is CapCut safe?. All of them: Is it safe?

References

Primary sources only: TikTok’s own pages, regulators, courts and app stores. Each was checked on 7 Nov 2026.

  1. TikTok Newsroom. Announcement from the new TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, 23 Jan 2026. newsroom.tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  2. TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. TikTok Privacy Policy (US), 15 Jul 2026. tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  3. Apple App Store. TikTok on the App Store. apps.apple.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  4. TikTok Help Centre. Suggested accounts. tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  5. TikTok Help Centre. How we process face and voice information. tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  6. Google Play. TikTok data safety. play.google.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  7. The White House. Saving TikTok While Protecting National Security (Executive Order 14352), 25 Sep 2025. whitehouse.gov, checked 7 Nov 2026
  8. Data Protection Commission (Ireland). Irish Data Protection Commission fines TikTok €530 million and orders corrective measures, 2 May 2025. dataprotection.ie, checked 7 Nov 2026
  9. Supreme Court of the United States. TikTok Inc. v. Garland, per curiam opinion, 17 Jan 2025. supremecourt.gov, checked 7 Nov 2026
  10. California Attorney General. Attorney General Bonta, Attorney General James Lead Coalition Suing TikTok for Exploiting Young Users, Deceiving Public, 8 Oct 2024. oag.ca.gov, checked 7 Nov 2026
  11. Federal Trade Commission. FTC Investigation Leads to Lawsuit Against TikTok and ByteDance for Flagrantly Violating Children’s Privacy Law, 2 Aug 2024. ftc.gov, checked 7 Nov 2026
  12. Data Protection Commission (Ireland). DPC announces €345 million fine of TikTok, 15 Sep 2023. dataprotection.ie, checked 7 Nov 2026
  13. Information Commissioner’s Office (UK). ICO fines TikTok £12.7 million for misusing children’s data, 4 Apr 2023. ico-newsroom.prgloo.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  14. Federal Trade Commission. Video Social Networking App Musical.ly Agrees to Settle FTC Allegations That it Violated Children’s Privacy Law, 27 Feb 2019. ftc.gov, checked 7 Nov 2026
  15. TikTok Help Centre. Avoid phishing on TikTok. tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  16. TikTok Shop. Stay Safe: Why your entire TikTok Shop journey should stay on-platform. seller.tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  17. TikTok Shop. Turn on 2-step verification for greater account safety. seller.tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  18. TikTok Help Centre. Choosing between a private or public account. tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  19. TikTok Help Centre. Family Pairing. tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  20. TikTok Help Centre. Restricted Mode. tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  21. TikTok Help Centre. Safety on TikTok. tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  22. TikTok Safety Center. Youth safety and well-being. tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026
  23. TikTok Shop. Safe shopping on TikTok Shop every day of the year. seller.tiktok.com, checked 7 Nov 2026