TikTok’s New U.S. Deal and Privacy Policy: What Users Don’t Understand

TikTok has shifted to a majority-American entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture, LLC, to comply with U.S. national security requirements and avoid a ban. This week we discuss why a recent privacy policy update went viral—especially language about sensitive data like immigration status and precise location—and argue much of it reflects longstanding practices and required California privacy disclosures. We emphasize reading policies, understanding your threat model, and making your own decision about using TikTok or other social platforms. The episode also briefly mentions Ring ending its partnership with Flock and a rumored internal email about expanding Ring’s “search party” feature. ** Links mentioned on the show ** TikTok users freak out over app’s ‘immigration status’ collection — here’s what it means https://tech.yahoo.com/social-media/articles/tiktok-users-freak-over-app-043402475.html Here’s what you should know about the US TikTok deal https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/23/heres-whats-you-should-know-about-the-us-tiktok-deal/ TikTok’s Privacy Policy https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/us/privacy-policy/en ** Watch this episode on YouTube ** ** Become a Shared Security Supporter ** Get exclusive access to ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, listen to new episodes before they are released, receive a monthly shout-out on the show, and get a discount code for 15% off merch at the Shared Security store. Become a supporter today! https://patreon.com/SharedSecurity ** Thank you to our sponsors! ** SLNT Visit slnt.com to check out SLNT’s amazing line of Faraday bags and other products built to protect your privacy. As a listener of this podcast you receive 10% off your order at checkout using discount code “sharedsecurity”. ** Subscribe and follow the podcast ** Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SharedSecurityPodcast Follow us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sharedsecurity.bsky.social Follow us on Mastodon: https://infosec.exchange/@sharedsecurity Join us on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/SharedSecurityShow/ Visit our website: https://sharedsecurity.net Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://sharedsecurity.net/subscribe Sign-up for our email newsletter to receive updates about the podcast, contest announcements, and special offers from our sponsors: https://shared-security.beehiiv.com/subscribe Leave us a rating and review: https://ratethispodcast.com/sharedsecurity Contact us: https://sharedsecurity.net/contact The post TikTok’s New U.S. Deal and Privacy Policy: What Users Don’t Understand appeared first on Shared Security Podcast.