TikTok
What the default settings do
TikTok accounts are public by default, meaning anyone can view your profile, videos, liked videos, and following list. The app collects extensive data for ad personalization, including your activity within the app, device information, and inferred interests. Direct messages are open to varying degrees depending on your age setting, and other users can duet or stitch your videos by default.
TikTok also uses your data to personalize the For You feed and to serve targeted advertisements. Connected third-party apps retain access until revoked manually.
Following the January 2026 restructuring of TikTok’s US ownership into a joint venture with US investors, TikTok updated its US privacy policy to allow collecting precise location data depending on your device settings, where it previously did not. There is no dedicated in-app toggle for this; your phone’s location permission for TikTok is the relevant control.
A reasonable privacy baseline
These settings are found in Settings and Privacy within the TikTok app.
Account visibility
Privacy → Private Account → On
A private account means only approved followers can see your videos, likes, and following list. Your profile photo, username, and bio remain publicly visible. This is the most significant privacy change available on TikTok.
Activity Status → Off (Privacy → Activity status)
When enabled, people you follow or have messaged can see when you are currently active or were recently online. Turning this off hides that information.
Interactions
Who Can Duet With Your Videos → Followers or Only Me (Privacy → Duet)
By default, anyone can create a Duet using your video content. Restricting this to followers or disabling it entirely limits how your content is reused by others.
Who Can Stitch With Your Videos → Followers or Only Me (Privacy → Stitch)
Similar to Duets, Stitch allows others to incorporate clips from your videos into their own. Restricting this gives you more control over how your content is repurposed.
Comment Filters → On (Privacy → Comments → Filter all comments / Filter keywords)
Enables automatic filtering of comments containing specific keywords or phrases. You can also enable a general spam and offensive comment filter.
Direct Messages → Followers or No One (Privacy → Direct messages)
Controls who can send you direct messages. The default varies by account age, but restricting to followers or disabling messages entirely reduces unwanted contact.
Data and advertising
Personalized Ads → Off (Privacy → Ads personalization)
TikTok uses your in-app activity and off-app data from advertising partners to serve targeted ads. Turning this off means ads will be less relevant to your interests but TikTok will collect less behavioral data for this purpose. Availability of this toggle varies by region.
Off-TikTok Activity → Clear regularly (Privacy → Ads → Your Off-TikTok Activity)
This shows and lets you clear the activity data TikTok's advertising partners have shared about you from other websites and apps, which TikTok otherwise uses to personalize your ads. Clearing it is not permanent: the connection can rebuild over roughly 24 hours, so this works better as something you repeat periodically than a one-time fix.
Connected Apps → Review and revoke (Privacy → Connected apps)
Third-party apps you have logged into using TikTok retain access to your account data. Remove any that you no longer use or recognize.
Download Your Data → Request periodically (Privacy → Download your data)
TikTok allows you to request a copy of the data it holds about you. This includes your videos, comments, messages, and activity history. Reviewing this periodically helps you understand what is collected.
Wellbeing
Screen Time Controls → Configure as desired (Settings → Screen time)
TikTok offers daily screen time limits, scheduled breaks, and a sleep reminder. These are not strictly privacy settings, but they reduce the amount of behavioral data generated by extended usage sessions.
Trade-offs
- A private account means your videos will not appear on the For You page of non-followers, effectively removing the primary discovery mechanism on TikTok. This is a significant trade-off for anyone creating content.
- Restricting Duets and Stitches limits collaborative and viral potential for your content.
- Disabling personalized ads does not reduce the number of ads. They will still appear but may be less relevant to your interests.
- Restricting direct messages may cause you to miss messages from people you do not yet follow, including potential collaborators or friends.
- Screen time controls are self-imposed and can be overridden at any time.
Who should not change these settings
- If you use TikTok to build an audience or share content publicly, a private account defeats that purpose. The other settings in this guide can still improve your privacy without restricting visibility.
- If you enjoy Duets and Stitches as a form of community engagement, keeping those open may be part of the experience you value.
- If you find personalized ads preferable to generic ones, there is no obligation to turn off ad personalization.
- If you use TikTok primarily for discovery and entertainment without posting, many interaction settings will have minimal effect on your experience.