Privacy Policy - EU

Use & Processing · Company practice

Faces, objects and spoken words in your content are detected for moderation, effects and captions

TikTok detects and collects characteristics of the videos, images and audio in your User Content, for example identifying objects and scenery, whether a face or other body parts appear in an image and where, and the text of words spoken. Examples of why are content moderation, special effects such as filters and avatars, and captions.

Supporting quotations

We detect and collect characteristics and features about the videos, images, and audio recordings that are part of your User Content, for example, by identifying objects and scenery, the existence or location within an image of a face or other body parts; and the text of words spoken in your User Content.

We do this, for example, for content moderation and to provide special effects (such as video filters and avatars) and captions.

Qualifications & exceptions

• Purposes are given as examples ("for example"), not as a closed list.

Not stated here

• The text does not say whether these detected characteristics are used to identify a person.
• The text does not say how long the detected characteristics are kept.

Use & Processing · Company practice

TikTok uses your information to operate and improve the Platform, for the listed purposes and others

TikTok says it uses your information to operate, provide, develop and improve the Platform, including for the purposes listed under this heading. The list is introduced with "including", so the text does not present it as complete. It points to the legal bases section for more detail.

Supporting quotations

We use your information to operate, provide, develop, and improve the Platform, including for the following purposes.

Qualifications & exceptions

• The list is introduced with "including".

Not stated here

• The text does not say whether there are purposes beyond the list.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Information is used to provide the Platform, including user support

TikTok uses your information to provide and administer the Platform, such as letting you create, share and consume content, interact with other users and their content, and giving user support.

Supporting quotations

Provide and administer the Platform, such as enabling you to create, share, and consume content, to interact with other users and their content, and provide user support.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Information is used to personalise features such as the For You feed and creation tools

TikTok uses your information to personalise and customise certain features and content, such as your For You feed and content creation tools.

Supporting quotations

Personalise and customise certain features and content such as providing your “For You” feed and content creation tools.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Content and other information are reviewed by automated means and human moderators to enforce policies

TikTok uses your information to enforce its Terms, Community Guidelines and other policies that apply to you. It reviews User Content and other information through a mix of technology, including automated means, and human moderation, to protect the safety and well-being of its community.

Supporting quotations

We review User Content and other information through a mix of technology (including through automated means) and human moderation to protect the safety and well-being of our community.

Not stated here

• The Terms and Community Guidelines are not supplied in this text, so the card cannot say what they require.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Information is used to let your content be used in other users' videos

TikTok uses your information to provide interactive features, such as enabling your content to be used in other users' videos.

Supporting quotations

Provide certain interactive features, such as enabling your content to be used in other users’ videos

Not stated here

• This item does not itself say whether you can restrict this use.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Information is used to suggest your account to others and others' accounts to you

TikTok uses your information to suggest your account to other users and suggest other accounts to you, to help connect users.

Supporting quotations

Suggest your account to other users and suggest accounts of others to you to help connect you with other users.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Information is used to provide and improve advertising, with personalised ads limited to where permitted and consented

TikTok uses your information to provide and improve its advertising services, including to serve ads and, where permitted, personalised ads. Elsewhere the policy says that, with your consent and in regions where it is available, certain information associated with your TikTok account is used to personalise ads served through its advertising network.

Supporting quotations

Provide and improve our advertising services, including to serve ads (including personalised ads, where permitted).

With your consent and in regions where it is available, we use certain information associated with your TikTok user account to personalise ads served via our advertising network.

Qualifications & exceptions

• Personalised ads are stated "where permitted".
• Advertising-network personalisation applies with your consent and in regions where it is available.

Not stated here

• The TikTok Ad Network Privacy Policy is linked but not supplied here, so this card cannot describe how the advertising network processes information.

Cross-references

• qualified by (model-proposed): With your consent, personalised ads use your activity on and off the Platform — The general advertising use says personalised ads are served "where permitted"; the consent section says personalised ads are based on your consent, so consent is the condition behind that qualifier.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Information is used to create analytics reports for partners, sellers and creators

TikTok uses your information to create analytics reports so partners, sellers and creators can see how their content, ads or products perform and better understand their audience and buyers.

Supporting quotations

Create analytics reports so that partners, sellers and creators can see how their content, ads or products are performing and to better understand their audience and buyers.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Information is used to improve the Platform, including training machine learning models

TikTok uses your information to review, improve and develop the Platform, including by monitoring interactions and usage across your devices, analysing how people use it, and training, testing and improving its technology such as machine learning models and algorithms.

Supporting quotations

Review, improve, and develop the Platform, including by monitoring interactions and usage across your devices, analysing how people are using it, and by training, testing, and improving our technology, such as our machine learning models and algorithms.

Not stated here

• This item does not say which categories of information are used for training.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Information is used to promote the Platform or third-party services

TikTok uses your information to promote the Platform or third-party services through marketing communications, contests or promotions.

Details not recorded for this card

Supporting quotations

Promote the Platform or third party services through marketing communications, contests, or promotions.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Under contractual necessity, information provides the Platform and personalises the For You feed

On the contractual necessity basis, TikTok uses your information to let you access and use the Platform, including creating, sharing and consuming content, interacting with others, using social features, and providing products and services you buy. It also uses it to personalise features such as the For You feed, which shows videos TikTok thinks you would be interested in, and by suggesting accounts to you.

Supporting quotations

We use your information to allow you to access and use the Platform, including allowing you to create, share and consume content, interact with others, utilise social features, and provide you with products and services you purchase.

We also personalise certain features and content such as providing your “For You” feed, which shows you videos that we think you would be interested in

by suggesting accounts to you

Qualifications & exceptions

• Applies on the contractual necessity basis, so only where you can enter an enforceable contract.

Not stated here

• The linked page about the For You feed is not supplied here.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Under contractual necessity, information is used to enforce rules, including removing content or banning accounts

On the contractual necessity basis, TikTok uses your information to enforce its Terms, Guidelines and policies, including through automated means and human moderation. This may include age-restricting or removing content, maintaining For You feed eligibility standards, or suspending or banning your account if it determines you are violating the Terms or Guidelines.

Supporting quotations

We use your information to enforce our Terms, Guidelines, and policies (including through automated means and human moderation). This may include age restricting or removing content, maintaining our For You feed eligibility standards, or suspending or banning your account if we determine that you are violating our Terms or Guidelines.

Qualifications & exceptions

• Account suspension or banning applies if TikTok determines you are violating its Terms or Guidelines.
• Applies on the contractual necessity basis.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Under contractual necessity, information is used for service messages, purchase support and queries

On the contractual necessity basis, TikTok uses your information to administer the Platform, such as communicating with you on service-related matters, giving updates and support about purchases, and responding to and processing queries, claims or disputes, including when you tell it about a problem or ask for a copy of your information.

Supporting quotations

We also use the information we have to administer the Platform, such as to communicate with you on service related matters, provide you with updates and support regarding any purchase you make on or through the Platform, and respond to and process your queries, claims or disputes (including when you tell us about a problem, or ask for a copy of your information).

Qualifications & exceptions

• Applies on the contractual necessity basis.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Legitimate interest: features that let other users include your videos, such as Duet and Stitch

To enable users to create content with interactive features such as Duet and Stitch, other users can include your videos in theirs if you allow this in your settings. The interest relied upon is providing tools that inspire creativity and collaboration and create chances to reach new audiences, using Information You Provide and Automatically Collected Information.

Supporting quotations

Interactive features, like Duet and Stitch, enable other users to include your videos in their videos (if you allow this in your settings).

To provide users with tools to inspire creativity, collaboration, and enjoyment, and to create opportunities for users to reach new audiences.

Information used: Information You Provide and Automatically Collected Information.

Enable users to create content with interactive features.

Qualifications & exceptions

• Other users can include your videos only if you allow this in your settings.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Legitimate interest: your account may be suggested to other users, including after a contact sync

TikTok may suggest your account to other users, including when a user syncs their contacts with the Platform. The interest relied upon is helping users quickly and efficiently find and connect with each other, using all three categories of information.

Supporting quotations

We may suggest your account to other users, including when a user chooses to sync their contacts with the Platform.

To enable users to quickly and efficiently find and connect with other users.

Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and Information From Other Sources.

Suggest your account to other users.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Legitimate interest: every user, including those who opted out of personalised ads, sees generic ads

TikTok shows all users generic ads, including users who chose not to receive personalised ads. It relies on a legitimate interest in keeping the Platform free of charge, and processes limited categories of information, for example to serve ads by country or language, so the advertising is useful to advertisers. It uses Information You Provide and Automatically Collected Information.

Supporting quotations

We show all users generic ads, including those who have chosen not to receive personalised ads.

We show generic ads to keep the Platform free of charge. We process limited categories of your information to make sure our advertising service is useful to our advertisers (for example, to serve ads to users in a particular country or to users who speak the same language).

Information used: Information You Provide and Automatically Collected Information.

Provide all users with generic advertising.

Qualifications & exceptions

• Applies to all users, including those who chose not to receive personalised ads.
• Described as limited categories of information.

Cross-references

• contrast (model-proposed): With your consent, personalised ads use your activity on and off the Platform — Personalised ads depend on your consent, while generic ads are shown to every user, including users who chose not to receive personalised ads. Declining personalised ads therefore does not mean seeing no ads.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Legitimate interest: helping creators, sellers and advertisers measure ads and content

TikTok provides measurement and analytics services that help creators, sellers and advertisers measure the effectiveness and distribution of ads and other content viewed on the Platform. The policy states the interest relied upon and the information used immediately after this description.

Supporting quotations

We help creators, sellers and advertisers measure the effectiveness and distribution of ads and other content viewed on the Platform.

Provide measurement and analytics services.

Use & Processing · Company practice

For users who cannot contract, legitimate interest covers providing the Platform

For users who cannot enter into an enforceable contract, TikTok uses their information to let them access and use the Platform, including creating, sharing and consuming content, interacting with others, using features and getting products and services they buy. The interest relied upon is providing and maintaining products that let these users communicate, discover, engage and express themselves, and the users' own interest in easy and intuitive access. It uses all three categories of information.

Supporting quotations

We use your information to allow you to access and use the Platform, including allowing you to create, share, and consume content, interact with others, utilise features, and provide you with products and services you purchase.

To provide, support, and maintain products and features that enable users who can’t enter into an enforceable contract with us to communicate, discover, and engage with content and express themselves.

We also rely on the legitimate interest of our users in being able to access the Platform in an easy and intuitive manner

Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and Information From Other Sources.

Provide you with the Platform

Qualifications & exceptions

• Applies to users who cannot enter into an enforceable contract with TikTok.

Use & Processing · Company practice

For users who cannot contract, legitimate interest covers personalising features such as the For You feed

For users who cannot enter into an enforceable contract, TikTok uses information to personalise features such as the For You feed, which shows videos it thinks the user would be interested in, and by suggesting accounts. The interest relied upon is providing features that help these users discover content and people relevant to their interests. It uses all three categories of information.

Supporting quotations

We use your information to personalise certain features and content on the Platform, such as providing your “For You” feed, which shows you videos that we think you would be interested in

To provide, support, and maintain products and features that enable users who can’t enter into an enforceable contract with us to communicate, discover, create and engage with content and users relevant to their interests.

Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and Information From Other Sources.

Personalise features and content

Qualifications & exceptions

• Applies to users who cannot enter into an enforceable contract.

Not stated here

• The linked page about the For You feed is not supplied here.

Use & Processing · Company practice

For users who cannot contract, legitimate interest covers enforcing rules and protecting vulnerable users

For users who cannot enter into an enforceable contract, TikTok uses information to enforce its Terms, Guidelines and policies through automated means and human moderation, which may include age-restricting or removing content or suspending or banning an account for violations. The interest relied upon is keeping the Platform free of harmful or inappropriate content, investigating suspicious activity, and protecting users who may be particularly vulnerable to exploitation or harm. It uses all three categories of information.

Supporting quotations

We use your information to enforce our Terms, Guidelines, and policies (including through automated means and human moderation). This may include age restricting or removing content, maintaining our For You feed eligibility standards, or suspending or banning your account if we determine that you are violating our Terms or Guidelines.

To keep the Platform free of harmful or inappropriate content, to investigate suspicious activity or breaches of our Terms, Guidelines, or policies and to protect the safety of users who can’t enter into an enforceable contract with us, including to prevent exploitation or other harm to which such individuals may be particularly vulnerable.

Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and Information From Other Sources.

Enforce our Terms, Guidelines, or policies.

Qualifications & exceptions

• Applies to users who cannot enter into an enforceable contract.
• Suspension or banning applies if TikTok determines the Terms or Guidelines are being violated.

Use & Processing · Company practice

For users who cannot contract, legitimate interest covers service updates and queries

For users who cannot enter into an enforceable contract, TikTok uses information to administer the Platform, such as communicating with users and responding to and processing queries, claims or disputes. The interest relied upon is sharing meaningful service-related updates and processing those queries, claims and disputes. It uses all three categories of information.

Supporting quotations

We use the information we have to administer the Platform, such as to communicate with users and respond to and process queries, claims or disputes (including when you tell us about a problem, or ask for a copy of your information).

To share meaningful updates with our users who can’t enter into an enforceable contract with us about service-related matters, and process their queries, claims and disputes.

Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and Information From Other Sources.

Administer the Platform.

Qualifications & exceptions

• Applies to users who cannot enter into an enforceable contract.

Use & Processing · Company practice

With your consent, personalised ads use your activity on and off the Platform

With your consent, TikTok serves you personalised ads on the Platform based on your activity on and off the Platform. With your consent and in regions where it is available, it also uses certain information associated with your TikTok account to personalise ads served through its advertising network. It uses all three categories of information for this purpose.

Supporting quotations

With your consent, we serve you personalised ads on the Platform based on your activity on and off the Platform.

With your consent and in regions where it is available, we use certain information associated with your TikTok user account to personalise ads served via our advertising network.

Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and Information From Other Sources for this purpose.

Personalised advertising.

Qualifications & exceptions

• Personalised ads require your consent.
• Advertising-network personalisation also depends on availability in your region.

Not stated here

• The TikTok Ad Network Privacy Policy is linked but not supplied here, so this card cannot describe the advertising network's processing.

Cross-references

• qualifies (model-proposed): Information is used to provide and improve advertising, with personalised ads limited to where permitted and consented — The general advertising use says personalised ads are served "where permitted"; the consent section says personalised ads are based on your consent, so consent is the condition behind that qualifier.
• contrast (model-proposed): Legitimate interest: every user, including those who opted out of personalised ads, sees generic ads — Personalised ads depend on your consent, while generic ads are shown to every user, including users who chose not to receive personalised ads. Declining personalised ads therefore does not mean seeing no ads.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Information may be used to protect life or safety, including by scanning Messages where law permits

TikTok may use your information where necessary to protect your or someone else's life, physical integrity or safety. This could include scanning Messages and their metadata where permitted by law, and providing information to law enforcement or emergency services in urgent situations to protect health or life. It generally provides Information You Provide and Automatically Collected Information, depending on the situation.

Supporting quotations

We may use your information where it is necessary to protect your or someone else's life, physical integrity, or safety. This could include scanning Messages and associated metadata where permitted by law.

This could also include providing law enforcement agencies or emergency services with information in urgent situations to protect health or life. We generally provide Information You Provide and Automatically Collected Information, although it depends on the specific situation.

Qualifications & exceptions

• Scanning Messages applies "where permitted by law".
• Applies where necessary to protect life, physical integrity or safety.
• Which information is provided depends on the specific situation.

Not stated here

• The linked page on direct message scanning is not supplied here.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Legitimate interest for measurement: showing creators, sellers and advertisers how content performed

The interest relied upon for measurement services is enabling creators, sellers and advertisers to see how their ads or content performed and who viewed or interacted with them, so they can make informed decisions. TikTok says this helps keep ads and other content relevant and keeps the Platform free for all users. It uses all three categories of information.

Supporting quotations

Legitimate Interest relied upon: To enable creators, sellers and advertisers to view and understand how their ads or content performed and the audience that viewed or interacted with their ads or content.

This helps keep the advertising and other content we show users relevant and entertaining, and keeps the Platform free for all users.

Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and Information From Other Sources.

We help creators, sellers and advertisers measure the effectiveness and distribution of ads and other content viewed on the Platform.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Legitimate interest: reviewing User Content, and Messages where the law allows, for rule breaches

TikTok uses your information to keep its community safe, including by reviewing User Content for breaches of its Terms, Guidelines and other policies, and, if permitted under applicable law, Messages and their metadata. The interest relied upon is keeping the community safe, reviewing compliance with the Guidelines and identifying misuse of the Platform. It uses all three categories of information.

Supporting quotations

We use your information to ensure the safety and well-being of our community, including by reviewing User Content (and if permitted under applicable law, Messages and associated metadata) for breaches of our Terms, Guidelines, and other policies.

To keep our community safe, review compliance with our Guidelines, and identify misuse of the Platform.

Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and Information From Other Sources.

Ensure the safety and well-being of our community.

Qualifications & exceptions

• Review of Messages and associated metadata applies only "if permitted under applicable law".

Use & Processing · Company practice

Legitimate interest: analysing use to develop the Platform, including machine learning and promotion

TikTok uses the information it has to understand how people use the Platform and to develop, test and improve it, including its technology such as machine learning models and algorithms. It also uses this information to better understand and promote the Platform, popular topics and emerging trends, and to offer certain personalised features. The interest relied upon is improving, promoting and developing the Platform in an informed way, using all three categories of information.

Supporting quotations

We use the information we have to understand how people are using the Platform and to develop, test, and make improvements to the Platform, including to develop and improve our technology, such as our machine learning models and algorithms. We also use this information to better understand and promote the Platform, popular topics, and emerging trends, and offer certain personalised features.

To improve, promote, and develop the Platform in an informed way.

Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and Information From Other Sources.

Review, improve, promote, and develop the Platform.

Use & Processing · Company practice

TikTok reviews messages you exchange with customer support to improve its technologies

Within its Platform improvement interest, TikTok says it reviews messages you exchange with customer support to improve technologies supporting such functions.

Supporting quotations

We also review messages you exchange with customer support to improve technologies supporting such functions.

Not stated here

• The text does not say who reviews these messages or how they are used beyond improving supporting technologies.

Use & Processing · Company practice

Legitimate interest: marketing messages about the Platform and third-party products, with consent where required

You may receive marketing messages about the Platform and third-party products and services where TikTok thinks they will interest you. Where required, TikTok says it will obtain your consent to send them. The interest relied upon is promoting the Platform and third-party products and services, using all three categories of information.

Supporting quotations

You may receive marketing messages about the Platform and third party products and services where we think they will interest you. Where required, we will obtain your consent to send you such communications.

To promote the Platform and third party products and services.

Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and Information From Other Sources.

Marketing communications.

Qualifications & exceptions

• Consent is obtained "where required".

Not stated here

• The text does not say where consent is required.