As lawmakers and the Biden administration look to get the popular TikTok app in good standing
with the United States, many of its millions of users are looking for ways to protect their own
privacy.

Like all social media apps, TikTok clearly collects and shares a lot of your information when
you download the app. If you’ve gone into the TikTok settings hoping to change what it can do
with your information, you need to take a few other steps.

TikTok’s settings give you limited control of data sharing. It only allows you to make your account private, block accounts, and a few other settings that do nothing to protect your data.

Instead, go into your phone’s settings and scroll to the bottom of the page until you see the
TikTok app. On an Android phone, it’s under settings, apps, and “all apps”. You likely have a
long list of apps, so you’ll have to scroll to near the bottom of the list.

Chances are, you’ve given TikTok total access to your phone that includes your contacts,
camera, microphone, calendar, and location. You can set Photos to none unless you’re
uploading photos and videos. If you’re like most people who view TikTok but never upload your
own videos. Turn all of these off. Leave Cellular Data turned on, or it won’t work unless it’s
connected to Wi-Fi.

Make sure “Allow tracking” is turned off. Otherwise, it’ll see and can share websites you visit and
things you search for.

It may not be enough to satisfy lawmakers who want TikTok banned in the United States but
changing these settings should prevent TikTok from gathering your data.