After TikTok in the U.S. went under new ownership in late January 2026, a rumor spread that its new terms of service said the application would collect some of its users most sensitive information, including immigration status, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, mental health diagnosis and more.
Several posts on Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, Bluesky and X made this claim. One X user said (archived) TikTok now belonged to "Trump's oligarchs," suggesting they would start to track this information on behalf of the administration of President Donald Trump:
The post included screenshots of TikTok's new supposed TOS, including a paragraph titled "Information we collect." The image read (emphasis ours):
Information You Provide may include sensitive personal information, as defined under applicable state privacy laws, such as information from users under the relevant age threshold, information you disclose in survey responses or in your user content about your racial or ethnic origin, national origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information. For example, we may process your financial information in order to provide you the goods or services you request from us or your driver's license number in order to verify your identity. We may also collect precise location data, depending on your settings and as explained below. We process such sensitive personal information in accordance with applicable law, such as for permitted purposes under the California Consumer Privacy Act.
A review of TikTok's new privacy policy in the U.S. revealed an update was effective starting Jan. 22, 2026. Those who opened the app on or after that date saw a pop-up asking them to agree to the new TOS as a condition to continue using the app. Snopes confirmed the above paragraph was part of the updated rules.
TikTok's collection of such sensitive information did not start on Jan. 22, 2026, however. Snopes found TikTok's previous privacy policy, updated in 2024 and archived here on Dec. 1, 2025, included similar language:
While some of the information that we collect, use, and disclose may constitute sensitive personal information under applicable state privacy laws, such as information from users under the relevant age threshold, information you disclose in survey responses or in your User Content about your racial or ethnic origin, national origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information, we only process such information in order to provide the Platform and within other exemptions under applicable law. For example, we may process your financial information in order to provide you the goods or services you request from us or your driver's license number in order to verify your identity.
One major difference between the former terms of service and the updated terms is that TikTok U.S. now made it explicit it may "collect precise location data, depending on your settings." In other words, the app will track users' precise locations unless they opt out of it.
The new TOS also make it clear the app will abide by state privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act, whereas before it only referred to "applicable state privacy laws."
Other information-collecting policy
TikTok also maintained its policy of collecting information from content users import, before they save or post it, though the language changed. The old privacy policy read:
When you create User Content, we may upload or import it to the Platform before you save or post the User Content (also known as pre-uploading), for example, in order to recommend audio options, generate captions, and provide other personalized recommendations. If you apply an effect to your User Content, we may collect a version of your User Content that does not include the effect.
The updated privacy policy said:
We may collect user content through pre-uploading at the time of creation, import, or upload, regardless of whether you choose to save or publish that user content, for example, to recommend audio options, provide an effect, generate captions, and provide other personalized recommendations.
Both the former and updated terms of service said TikTok could collect information about non-users, though the new policy gave more details about how that may be the case. "Even if you are not a user, information about you may appear in User Content created or published by users on the Platform," the old language said.
Meanwhile, the new policy read: "Even if you are not a user, information about you may appear in user content created or published by users on our apps and websites."
In addition, the app included new rules for content generated with artificial intelligence. It prohibits the use of AI bots, among other new guidelines.
Further, it expanded its advertising rules. By using the app, users now agree to have their information used for more targeted advertising "on and off the Platform:"
You agree that we can customize ads and other sponsored content from creators, advertisers, and partners, that you see on and off the Platform based on, among other points, information we receive from third parties.
Where the content is stored
On the same day TikTok in the U.S. announced its new terms of service and privacy policy, its new owners — a consortium of investors known as TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC — said in a statement that U.S. user data would now be stored in "Oracle's secure U.S. cloud environment."
Oracle is a technology company owened in large part by Trump loyalist Larry Ellison. Oracle has a 15% state in the venture, according to the announcement, the same stake as Silver Lake (led by Egon Durban, who reportedly worked with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on a previous deal) and MGX Fund Management, an
Meanwhile ByteDance, the Chinese company that founded TikTok, retained a 19.9% stake in the consortium, according to the announcement.
In the same statement, TikTok USDS Joint Venture said it would "retrain" TikTok's algorithm to adjust content recommendations to U.S. users:
The Joint Venture will retrain, test, and update the content recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data. The content recommendation algorithm will be secured in Oracle's U.S. cloud environment.
In 2025, Snopes examined the rumor that TikTok may be banned in the U.S.