WASHINGTON, D.C. – TikTok’s newly formed US joint venture has updated its privacy policy to allow the collection of precise location data from its estimated 200 million American users, marking a significant shift in how the popular video platform handles user information.
The revised policy was published shortly after American investors finalised a deal with TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to take over the app’s US operations, following years of political and regulatory pressure in Washington.
Under the updated terms, the joint venture says it may now “collect precise location data, depending on your settings,” expanding beyond the previous policy that limited data collection to approximate location information.
The company said the data would be processed “in accordance with applicable law” and that users can disable location services at any time through their device settings.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the changes.
Before the joint venture was established, TikTok already gathered location data using users’ IP addresses or SIM card information.
However, a 2024 version of its privacy policy indicated that the app stopped short of collecting GPS-level data from US users on the latest versions of the platform.
The company says precise location sharing has not yet been activated in the United States and is expected to be optional, turned off by default, and enabled only after users opt in through a pop-up notification.
TikTok has not disclosed when the feature will be rolled out to American users.
Similar data collection is already in place in parts of Europe and the UK, where TikTok introduced a “Nearby Feed” that allows users to discover local events and businesses.
Beyond location data, the new US venture is also expanding permissions related to TikTok’s artificial intelligence tools.
The updated policy allows the company to collect information on user interactions with AI features, including prompts, questions, and metadata showing when, where, and how AI-generated content is created.
The US entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, is led by three managing investors, including cloud computing giant Oracle.
The company is investing heavily in AI infrastructure and will oversee the retraining and hosting of TikTok’s recommendation algorithm using existing US user data.
Oracle said the algorithm will be secured within its US-based cloud environment as part of broader efforts to strengthen data privacy and cybersecurity. ByteDance retains a minority stake of just under 20% in the joint venture.
Other investors include US technology firm Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based state investment fund MGX, which has previously done business with the Trump family’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial.
The deal follows years of friction between Washington and Beijing over TikTok’s ownership and data practices. In 2024, the US passed legislation requiring the app to be banned nationwide by January 2025 unless ByteDance divested its US operations.
Enforcement of the law was repeatedly delayed under President Donald Trump until the joint venture was finalised this week.
Lawmakers remain cautious. Republican Representative John Moolenaar, chair of the House Select Committee on China, said ByteDance’s continued involvement raises unresolved concerns.
“Does this deal ensure China does not have influence over the algorithm? Can the parties involved assure Americans their data is secure?” Moolenaar said, adding that the committee would closely scrutinise the arrangement.
