Key Points
- Filing says data aimed at improving ads, safety and localised features
- Move likely to intensify regulatory and privacy scrutiny in Washington
- The company says safeguards and US-based controls will govern access
ISLAMABAD: TikTok’s new joint venture in the United States of America has disclosed plans to collect precise location data from users.
This move is expected to raise privacy concerns and intensify regulatory scrutiny surrounding the popular short-video platform.
According to documents linked to the restructuring of TikTok’s US operations, the company intends to gather detailed location information to support advertising, content relevance, security and safety features.
The disclosure comes as TikTok seeks to address long-standing US concerns over data protection and national security through a domestically controlled corporate structure.
The new policy was published after investors closed a deal with TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, last week to run the popular short-form video app’s business in the US, where it has 200 million American users.
The new joint venture stated in its updated privacy terms that it may now “collect precise location data, depending on your settings” – a change from the previous policy, which allowed for the collection of “approximate” location data.
The company stated that the data collection would be governed by strict safeguards, with access limited to authorised personnel under US-based oversight. TikTok has repeatedly maintained that American user data is protected through technical and legal firewalls and is not shared with foreign entities.
Privacy advocates, however, argue that precise location data can reveal sensitive patterns about users’ movements and behaviour, increasing the risk of misuse or overreach if not tightly controlled. According to critics, the disclosure underscores the need for clearer limits, transparency and independent audits.
US lawmakers and regulators have kept TikTok under close watch, pressing for assurances that user information remains secure and insulated from external influence. The latest filing of mandatory documents is likely to feature in ongoing reviews of the company’s compliance with US privacy standards.
TikTok stated that it remains committed to working with regulators and users to ensure transparency and trust as it advances plans for its US business.
Even before the new venture was established, TikTok collected location information based on a user’s SIM card or IP address, or both.
But it stopped short of collecting even approximate GPS information from American users operating the most updated version of the app, according to a 2024 version of its privacy policy.
Precise location sharing hasn’t yet been enabled in the US, where it is expected to be optional and turned off by default, so users will be asked to opt in with a pop-up message. TikTok has not said when the update is due to reach American users.
TikTok already collects similar data from users in the UK and Europe as part of a new “Nearby Feed” feature, which lets users find events and businesses near them.
The new American TikTok joint venture is also extending its permissions for gathering information about users’ interactions with TikTok’s artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
This includes prompts and questions submitted by users, as well as information about how, when, and where AI content was prompted or created.
According to the BBC, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC is comprised of three managing investors, including cloud computing giant Oracle, which is investing heavily in AI infrastructure and has taken on significant debt to finance its ambitions in the burgeoning space.
Oracle is chaired by Larry Ellison, a Republican megadonor and longtime ally of US President Donald Trump, whose administration helped broker the US TikTok deal.
The agreement follows years of diplomatic scramble between Washington and Beijing, which began in Trump’s first presidential term, when he tried unsuccessfully to ban the app over national security concerns.
In 2024, the US passed a law that provided for banning TikTok in the US by January 2025 if ByteDance failed to sell its US operations to American investors.
Trump repeatedly postponed the enforcement of legislation until the joint venture was finalised on Thursday last week.
The 2024 law was prompted in part by concerns that Beijing might access the data of TikTok’s American users.
In a statement last week, the new joint venture stated its mandate was “to secure US user data, apps and the algorithm through comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity measures”.
