Technology & Privacy

TikTok, now controlled by a new U.S. joint venture formed January 22 to comply with a federal divest‑or‑ban law, has rolled out updated terms and a privacy policy that for the first time explicitly allows collection of users’ "precise location information" when device location services are enabled. The change, which comes as Oracle, Silver Lake, Abu Dhabi‑based MGX and other U.S. investors take a combined 80.1% stake and ByteDance keeps 19.9%, has sparked backlash on social media, with some users deleting the app and privacy advocates warning that address‑level tracking can reveal where people live, work and move. The policy also restates that TikTok may collect a wide range of sensitive information — including racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, mental and physical health diagnoses, sexual orientation and immigration or citizenship status — but shifts from saying such data is used only as needed to operate the service to a looser promise to process it "in accordance with applicable law." A TikTok official told CBS the precise‑location feature will be optional, used to power new services and features, and that users will be able to opt out, while experts note the language mirrors California’s privacy law and illustrates how much granular data a U.S.-based TikTok can still gather even after the ByteDance split.