Last week, a startling pop-up message greeted American TikTok users as soon as they opened the app: They needed to agree to new terms and services and a new privacy policy if they wanted to keep scrolling. As part of TikTok’s transition to new ownership, ByteDance ― TikTok’s Chinese owner ― struck a deal to create a new U.S. version of the popular social media app. Now, the app has also changed its terms and privacy policies for U.S. users.Many of us tap and agree to terms and conditions all the time to use social media programs, shopping apps and more ― often in exchange for our privacy. But this time, people weren’t happy to learn what they must agree to in order to use TikTok.“I deleted TikTok due to the new terms,” one X user wrote in a message that has been liked over 11,000 times. “It’s scary when you read into it. They can have your geolocation...save data about your health, sexuality, political beliefs.” “The alarm is a fair reaction,” Calli Schroeder, senior counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told HuffPost. “People are unaware of how much information these companies get from them, either directly or from inferences. And...people are really unaware of how these companies are able to use and share this information.”What You Should Know About TikTok’s Terms And Privacy PolicyNurPhoto via Getty ImagesUnder TikTok's new policies for U.S. users, TikTok is expanding its location tracking. One of the most notable changes to TikTok’s privacy policy is around the expansion of its location tracking services. Under the new policy, TikTok said it can collect approximate or precise location information, unless you opt out. “It is ultimately just trying to bring the level of surveillance detail to TikTok that has been available to a lot of other social media services,” George Kamide, co-host of the tech and cybersecurity podcast “Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks,” told HuffPost.Users can still opt out of precise location services, depending on which region they are in. If you have this option, go to TikTok, tap Menu, then select Settings and privacy. From there you choose Privacy, then tap Location Services to decide how much location access you will permit. Alternatively, phones have a way to turn off location tracking across apps. For example on iPhone, go to your Settings, then select Privacy & Security, and Location Services. From there, you can choose an app like TikTok and turn Precise Location on or off. “Any location tracking has risks to it. SIM card and IP address tracking...will reveal, a state, maybe a city that you’re in,” Schroeder said. “Precise geolocation data at times can reveal the specific address you’re at.”And that can be especially concerning, she explained. If you’re going to a specific place of worship, the app’s precise location service can make inferences about what your religion is, for example. “Most apps and services that you engage with are collecting much more information about you than you think.- Calli Schroeder, senior counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information CenterBut one of the other most startling lines within the new TikTok terms and conditions is about what TikTok states it can learn about our lives. TikTok states it will collect sensitive user-generated information that your posts and comments might provide. This “may include...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,” according to the privacy policy.Although many people were upset to learn that TikTok collects citizenship information that President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign is currently targeting, this is not a new policy. According to internet archive Wayback Machine, TikTok’s 2025 policy already permitted the app to collect data users provide about themselves, including “mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information.”“Just because it isn’t new doesn’t mean it isn’t bad,” Schroeder said about the TikTok’s sensitive information policy. “The immigration factor is a real concern.”She noted that many companies within the U.S. frequently get requests from law enforcement about accounts, and some companies do share that information. She noted that even getting tagged in a post could be a source for law enforcement bodies to use. TikTok states that it will process this sensitive data “in accordance with applicable law, such as...under the California Consumer Privacy Act,” which gives California residents the right to request corrections when a company has wrong personal data or the right to request deletion. In non-legalese, Schroeder said TikTok’s policy on this data means “We’ll process it in any way that’s legal,” and this is concerning because there is no U.S. federal privacy law that protects everyone’s information rights consistently. Right now, privacy laws vary by state, and even within states, there are carve-outs and exceptions. When HuffPost reached out to TikTok about how it processes sensitive information like “citizenship or immigration status” upon law enforcement request, the company shared its report on law enforcement requests, which states, in part, that “Any request we receive is carefully reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Our policies and procedures govern how TikTok handles and responds to law enforcement requests and require that TikTok discloses or preserves user data only where a request is based on a valid legal process or in emergency circumstances.”It’s not just sensitive data within the U.S. you might be concerned about, but how this information gets used abroad too. “Like many other tech companies, TikTok’s policies center on collecting tons of your sensitive personal data,” said Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Staff Attorney Mario Trujillo. “And even today, the company continues to reserve the right to transfer your data to its business partners outside the United States,” citing the company’s current data and retention policy. Deleting TikTok is one way some people are fighting back against TikTok’s perceived overreach. Deleting apps in general actually does help curb what an app maker knows about you. You can fill this TikTok form to access, correct or delete the information TikTok has on you. If enough people in mass delete their account, this could “send a big message,” Schroeder said. Whatever you do with your TikTok, privacy experts are glad, at the very least, that TikTok’s pop-up message is prompting more people to read the long, confusing terms and services of what people are agreeing to let a company do with their data. “This is the level of scrutiny that every app should get, but understandably does not,” Kamide said. “Most apps and services that you engage with are collecting much more information about you than you think, and they hide it all in these terms and services that they know you don’t read,” Schroeder said. “It’s an industry norm that we’ve accepted for a long time, and it’s never made a ton of sense or been a good practice.”