TikTok has quietly rolled out expanded ad targeting and location tracking capabilities for US users - a privacy rollback that comes just weeks after the app narrowly avoided a nationwide ban.
The changes, buried in a privacy policy update, allow TikTok to collect more precise location data and share it with advertisers for targeting purposes. Users weren't notified via in-app alerts; the update simply appeared in the terms of service that nobody reads.
Timing matters here. TikTok spent months arguing it posed no privacy threat to American users, ultimately securing a reprieve from the ban. Now, with that threat lifted, it's immediately expanding the very data collection practices that raised concerns in the first place.
The new policy enables what TikTok calls "enhanced advertising experiences" - which translates to tracking users' physical movements and serving location-based ads. A teenager scrolling TikTok at the mall can now expect ads from stores they walked past, powered by precise GPS data.
Privacy advocates point out that this level of tracking creates detailed profiles of users' daily routines, hangout spots, and travel patterns. That data, once collected, doesn't just disappear. It sits in databases accessible to TikTok's parent company ByteDance and potentially subject to Chinese data laws.
The feature is opt-out rather than opt-in, meaning it's active by default unless users dig through settings to disable it. Industry standard practice, perhaps, but questionable given TikTok's recent promises about respecting user privacy.
What's particularly galling is the transparency failure. Major privacy changes deserve prominent disclosure, not fine print in updated terms of service. The approach suggests TikTok knows users would object if they understood what was changing.
The technology works as designed - advertisers get better targeting, TikTok gets more ad revenue. The question is whether users should have to actively defend their privacy rather than having it protected by default.
For now, US users who care about limiting location tracking need to manually adjust their settings. But the broader pattern is concerning: TikTok securing policy wins by promising restraint, then quietly expanding data collection once the heat is off.
