The infamous short-form social media platform TikTok has recently updated their terms and conditions to “personalize your algorithm”. These changes include but are not limited to: location information, IP address, mobile carrier, model of your device, file names, and keystroke patterns. This is information that is automatically collected by use of the app, and as such is not particularly negotiable.

However, this location tracking can be turned off by simply going into your app settings and turning off location. There are a few ways to do this. For IOS go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location services > TikTok > and select Never. For Android phones go to Settings > Apps > TikTok > Permissions > Location and select Don’t Allow.

This step into location tracking for TikTok creates speculation as to what that information is being used for. They state it’s for their algorithm, but they could be selling the information they collect on you just like Google or Microsoft. Users are cautioned to limit the information shared with TikTok. Full terms and conditions and privacy policy are available on TikTok.