"People see this kind of pop-up all the time, and according to research, the " biggest lie on the internet" is that people ever read anything before clicking "agree." But given many users' unease about the ownership change-including fears of swapping Chinese surveillance for U.S. surveillance -it is unsurprising that this time, people paid attention. Screenshots of legal language spread quickly online, accompanied by warnings about sweeping new data collection."
"I'm both a TikTok content creator and a tech ethics and policy researcher who has studied website terms and conditions, especially whether people read them (they don't) and how well they understand them (they also don't). When I saw the outrage on social media, I immediately dove down a terms of service and privacy policy rabbit hole that had me tumbling into the wayback machine and also looking at similar policies on other apps and TikTok's policies in other countries."
On January 22, 2026, new TikTok terms of service and privacy policy took effect after ByteDance sold the app's U.S. operations to TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, a majority American-owned company that will reportedly control U.S. user data, content, and the recommendation algorithm. The pop-up required users to agree before continuing, prompting documentation and widespread concern about expanded data collection and surveillance. Examination of the policies and prior versions found that much of the language that alarmed users had barely changed or described common social-media practices. The list of designated sensitive personal information mirrored categories already used across platforms.
Read at Fast Company
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