Key Facts
What does TikTok Ads use mobile identifiers for?
TikTok Ads uses mobile identifiers for advertising, device information, hashed email addresses, and phone numbers shared by advertiser partners to match users and their off-platform actions to their TikTok accounts.
Does TikTok Ads use mobile identifiers, device information, hashed email addresses, and phone numbers to match users to their TikTok accounts?
TikTok Ads uses mobile identifiers for advertising, device information, hashed email addresses, and phone numbers shared by advertiser partners to match users and their off-platform actions to their TikTok accounts.
What information does TikTok Ads receive from advertisers, publishers, and measurement and other partners?
TikTok Ads receives information about users and their off-platform actions—such as activity on other websites, apps, or in stores—from advertisers, publishers, and measurement and other partners.
Does TikTok Ads receive information about users' off-platform actions from advertisers, publishers, and measurement and other partners?
TikTok Ads receives information about users and their off-platform actions—such as activity on other websites, apps, or in stores—from advertisers, publishers, and measurement and other partners.
What information does TikTok Ads share with advertisers, advertising partners, publishers, and third-party measurement companies?
TikTok Ads shares information with advertisers, advertising partners, publishers, and third-party measurement companies to show how many and which users viewed or clicked on an advertisement.
What does TikTok Ads use user data to do?
TikTok Ads uses user data to train and improve its machine learning models and algorithms.
Does TikTok Ads use user data to train and improve its machine learning models and algorithms?
TikTok Ads uses user data to train and improve its machine learning models and algorithms.
What information about videos, images, and audio in a user's User Content may TikTok Ads collect?
TikTok Ads may collect information about the videos, images, and audio in a user's User Content, including identifying objects, scenery, and the existence and location of face and body features within an image.
May TikTok Ads collect information identifying objects and scenery in a user's User Content?
TikTok Ads may collect information about the videos, images, and audio in a user's User Content, including identifying objects, scenery, and the existence and location of face and body features within an image.
What does TikTok Ads infer user attributes for?
TikTok Ads infers user attributes, including interests, gender, and age range, for the purpose of personalising content.
Summary
TikTok Ads collects extensive data about you—including what you do on other websites, apps, and in stores, as well as face and body feature data from your videos and even content you create but never post—and uses it to build a profile for advertising purposes. This information is shared with advertisers, ad partners, and third-party measurement companies. TikTok Ads also uses your data to train its AI systems and may use your own content in TikTok's promotional campaigns.
Analysis
This document establishes TikTok Ads' data collection, usage, sharing, and retention practices as they apply to users of the platform. TikTok Ads collects a broad range of user data—including behavioral engagement patterns, inferred demographic attributes, keystroke patterns, biometric-adjacent facial and body feature data extracted from User Content, and off-platform activity sourced from advertiser and measurement partners—and uses that data to perform cross-platform identity matching, deliver and measure advertising, and train machine learning models and algorithms. TikTok Ads shares user-level engagement data with advertisers, advertising partners, publishers, and third-party measurement companies, and may use User Content in its own advertising and marketing campaigns. In Indonesia, data is retained for a minimum of five years or longer where required by law or necessary for legal claims, and UAE users are subject to mandatory DIFC-LCIA arbitration in English.
What this means for you
As an individual user, your data profile on TikTok Ads extends well beyond what you do on TikTok itself: advertisers and measurement partners feed TikTok Ads information about your activity on other websites, apps, and physical stores, which TikTok Ads then connects to your TikTok account using mobile identifiers and hashed contact details. Content you create or import is collected at the moment of creation—even if you never post it—and may include extracted face and body feature data. TikTok Ads infers your interests, gender, and age range from this data, uses it to train its machine learning models, and may repurpose your User Content in its own marketing campaigns. Your behavioral engagement data—including which ads you viewed or clicked—is shared with third-party advertisers and measurement companies. If you are a user in the UAE, any disputes you have with TikTok Ads must be resolved through DIFC-LCIA arbitration in English rather than local courts.
2 important changes detected
3 versions captured · Last updated: July 2026
What changed
TikTok Ads substantially restructured its privacy policy in an update detected on July 16, 2026, expanding disclosure of data collection practices and reorganizing how it describes information handling. The revised policy now explicitly covers TikTok's Ad Network, specifies operation by TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC rather than the Singapore-registered entity, adds detailed descriptions of AI interactions and clipboard content collection, includes explicit references to state health privacy laws and the CCPA, and reorganizes data categories from a two-part framework (Automatically Collected Information / Inferred Information) into a three-part structure (You Provide, Automatically Collected, From Other Sources). The policy removed approximately 167 sentences describing prior practices and modified 149 sentences, resulting in a net document of 157 sentences.
Why this matters
The updated privacy policy expands disclosure of data collection practices affecting all users. The revised terms now explicitly describe collection of AI interactions (prompts, questions, and responses), clipboard content when accessing certain functions, pre-upload collection of user content for recommendations, and messaging through shopping features. The policy now explicitly addresses state-specific health privacy laws and CCPA-defined sensitive personal information, including racial or ethnic origin, health diagnoses, sexual orientation, and immigration status. The policy establishes that TikTok does not require provision of sensitive information but notes that published user content on these topics may be visible depending on privacy settings. You can adjust your settings to control which data types are collected and manage your contact sync preferences.
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What changed
TikTok Ads replaced its U.S.-specific privacy policy with language covering "other regions." The controlling entity shifted from TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC to TikTok Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-registered company.
Why this matters
The updated policy changed the controlling entity from TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC to TikTok Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-registered company. The U.S.-specific privacy policy language was replaced with terms covering "other regions." Users previously governed under U.S. privacy protections are now subject to different jurisdictional terms.
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