"You can only use the Platform if you are 13 years or older, although for some features you need to be older (we will tell you when this is the case)."
Their words, not yet tested. terms of service · read from their site on 2026-11-12
FAIR
欧盟委员会:成瘾性设计(初步调查结果)
可能会索取你的麦克风, 大概位置, 通讯录 +1权限
11 与你关联的数据类型
单次内购最高达$399.99
麦克风🗺️大概位置👥通讯录📸屏幕截图检测由陪审团核验由企业自主声明从应用提取或测得
"You can only use the Platform if you are 13 years or older, although for some features you need to be older (we will tell you when this is the case)."
Their words, not yet tested. terms of service · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"These partners are required to have the necessary rights and permissions to share your information with us before doing so."
Their words, not yet tested. privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"We retain information for as long as necessary to provide the Platform and for the other purposes set out in this Privacy Policy."
Their words, not yet tested. privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
Data Protection Commission (Ireland)
Official record: Data Protection Commission (Ireland), case "IN-21-9-2", dated 2025-04-30 on the authority's own page; respondent or addressee: TikTok Technology Limited; procedural status as of 2026-11-09: decision issued; appeal status not stated on the authority's page.
Penalty, as written: "€530 million"
How this was checkedPolicy history
Screen recordings submitted to Abouit by users who stated they show cancelling or deleting their own account. Abouit did not record them and cannot verify who made them. Screens are counted by our published method. Submitted recordings are reported evidence: never a receipt, never part of a grade.
No receipt about TikTok yet. read — nothing found yet First look from Germany on 2026-11-09 · privacy policy read 2026-11-12 · terms of service read 2026-11-12
Published by TikTok Technology Limited (no exact match in GLEIF).
What we checked in each of the six areas, and what we found there. Not a score: an empty area means not tested yet; "their words" means we quote their documents below but have not tested it. Planet is a seventh row of measured facts from the same first look: what the homepage weighs before any tap, and a CO2e range with its method.
not tested yet
not tested yet
not tested yet
First look at www.tiktok.com from Germany on 2026-11-09, no click, scroll or consent choice, 14 s · source · SHA-256 4a778c5e3117…
Green claims and their support
TikTok Technology Limitedor
TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited· source · SHA-256 e5c81f5da06e….
How TikTok's own help pages say you can reach a person, quoted as written on the date given. We did not contact them. Not tested by us; not a score.
None documented in the page we read. Its contact page could not be read by our reader, so this says nothing about what that page offers.
Pages read: “Helpful links” (Close-account article · Internet Archive copy of 2026-02-01 · source · SHA-256 6fff60af47cd…)
Contact page: not read: its text did not reach our reader (often built by JavaScript) (page)
The company's own declarations, copied as shown on the date given, with a link to the source and the hash of our archived copy. Not tested by us; not a score.
App Store (US), as the listing showed it
2026-11-09 · source · SHA-256 7cdf0a4a4164…
Google Play (US), as the listing showed it
2026-11-09 · source · SHA-256 25cf6c23e4f3…
Google Play Data safety page: not read: the site's robots.txt or the site itself refused our reader, and we never get around a refusal. 2026-11-09 · source
Closing the account, per its help centre: not read: the page our reader received had almost no readable text. 2026-11-09 · source
What an independent analysis of the published app file lists for TikTok (Android version 36.5.4, report of 2024-09-17). A permission says what the app can ask the phone for, not what it does with it. A newer version may differ.
7 tracker SDKs: AppsFlyer · Facebook Analytics · Facebook Login · Facebook Share · Google Firebase Analytics · IAB Open Measurement · Pangle
37 permissions, including: microphone RECORD_AUDIO · approximate location ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION · contacts READ_CONTACTS · screenshot detection DETECT_SCREEN_CAPTURE · drawing over other apps SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW · advertising ID AD_ID · notifications POST_NOTIFICATIONS
ACCESS_ADSERVICES_AD_ID · ACCESS_ADSERVICES_ATTRIBUTION · ACCESS_MEDIA_LOCATION · ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE · ACCESS_WIFI_STATE · BIND_GET_INSTALL_REFERRER_SERVICE · BLUETOOTH_CONNECT · CHANGE_NETWORK_STATE · CHANGE_WIFI_MULTICAST_STATE · DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION · FOREGROUND_SERVICE · FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC · FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PLAYBACK · FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROJECTION · FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MICROPHONE · GET_COMMON_DATA · MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGS · READ_APP_INFO · READ_ATTRIBUTION · READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE · READ_MEDIA_AUDIO · READ_MEDIA_IMAGES · READ_MEDIA_VIDEO · READ_MEDIA_VISUAL_USER_SELECTED · READ_SETTINGS · RECEIVE_ADM_MESSAGE · REORDER_TASKS · SET_WALLPAPER · WAKE_LOCK · WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Source: εxodus Privacy report, read 2026-11-10 · SHA-256 dc41b2514c3c…
Commission preliminarily finds TikTok's addictive design in breach of the Digital Services Act
“This includes features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and its highly personalised recommender system.”
“For example, by constantly ‘rewarding' users with new content, certain design features of TikTok fuel the urge to keep scrolling and shift the brain of users into ‘autopilot mode'.”
“Scientific research shows that this may lead to compulsive behaviour and reduce users' self-control.”
“The Commission's investigation preliminarily indicates that TikTok did not adequately assess how these addictive features could harm the physical and mental wellbeing of its users, including minors and vulnerable adults.”
Status: A preliminary finding, not a final decision. TikTok can reply.
source · SHA-256 044b2d874d84…
TikTok commits to permanently withdraw TikTok Lite Rewards programme from the EU to comply with the Digital Services Act
“Today, the Commission has made TikTok's commitments to permanently withdraw TikTok Lite Rewards programme from the EU binding.”
Status: A binding decision: TikTok's own commitments were made legally binding.
source · SHA-256 dcf29d0ac080…
FTC Investigation Leads to Lawsuit Against TikTok and ByteDance for Flagrantly Violating Children’s Privacy Law
“The complaint alleges defendants failed to comply with the COPPA requirement to notify and obtain parental consent before collecting and using personal information from children under the age of 13.”
Status: A lawsuit filed in court. These are allegations, not a ruling.
source · SHA-256 803eefdcb34c…
Teens, screens and mental health
“New data from the WHO Regional Office for Europe reveals a sharp rise in problematic social media use among adolescents, with rates increasing from 7% in 2018 to 11% in 2022.”
“More than 1 in 10 adolescents (11%) showed signs of problematic social media behaviour, struggling to control their use and experiencing negative consequences.”
Status: About social media in general, not about this app alone.
source · SHA-256 739a7be47579…
Peer-reviewed studies about social media in general, not about TikTok alone. Each is one study: an association in a sample, not proof of cause. Studies do not all agree, and we show one that found the link is small.
Association of Habitual Checking Behaviors on Social Media With Longitudinal Functional Brain Development
“The results of this cohort study suggest that social media checking behaviors in early adolescence may be associated with changes in the brain's sensitivity to social rewards and punishments.”
What kind of evidence: One peer-reviewed study of 169 adolescents with brain scans over three years. An association, not proof of cause.
谁出的钱: US National Institute on Drug Abuse (public money). As listed in the study's Europe PMC record.
source · SHA-256 41e1d2d121dd…
Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth
“Adolescents who spend more than 3 hours per day using social media may be at heightened risk for mental health problems, particularly internalizing problems.”
What kind of evidence: One peer-reviewed study of 6,595 US adolescents. An association, not proof of cause. About social media in general.
谁出的钱: US National Institute on Drug Abuse (public money) · Canadian Institutes of Health Research (public money). As listed in the study's Europe PMC record.
source · SHA-256 2745bfff6e55…
The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use
“The association we find between digital technology use and adolescent well-being is negative but small, explaining at most 0.4% of the variation in well-being.”
What kind of evidence: One peer-reviewed analysis of 355,358 adolescents. It found the link is small: studies do not all agree.
谁出的钱: The study's Europe PMC record lists no funder. That is not the same as no funding.
source · SHA-256 49dcb05fbba4…
“Fact: TikTok’s parent company ByteDance Ltd. was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, but today, roughly sixty percent of the company is beneficially owned by global institutional investors such as Carlyle Group, General Atlantic, and Susquehanna International Group.”
“An additional twenty percent of the company is owned by ByteDance employees around the world, including Australians.”
“The remaining twenty percent is owned by the company's founder, who is a private individual and is not part of any state or government entity.”
状态: 这是公司在自己页面上的说法,不是提交给监管机构的文件,公司以外没有人证实过这些比例。公司没有公布可供核对的报告。
The Truth About TikTok: Separating Fact from Fiction. - Newsroom | TikTok · source · SHA-256 34098acfb37e…
TikTok Technology Ltd declares spending between €2,000,000 and €2,249,999 in a year on lobbying the EU institutions (Jan 2025 to Dec 2025).
People it declares working on this, in full-time equivalents: 15.
这是什么数字: This is the company's own declaration. The register does not audit it, and it covers everything the company does, not this app alone. EU only.
source · SHA-256 47229d92d6e1…
TIKTOK USDS JOINT VENTURE LLC reports spending $1,210,000 in three months on lobbying the US government (Jul 2026 to Sep 2026).
这是什么数字: This is the company's own quarterly report under US law. It covers everything the company does, not this app alone, and only what the law counts as lobbying.
source (bulk file) · SHA-256 a43453832a0b…
Whole sentences copied exactly from TikTok's own documents, grouped by subject. Their words, not yet tested: this is quotation, not a finding, and no jury has looked at it. Each sentence links to the archived copy it came from.
"Review, improve, and develop the Platform, including by monitoring interactions and usage across your devices, analysing how people are using it, and by training, testing, and improving our technology, such as our machine learning models and algorithms."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"We also infer your age range, and under certain circumstances, may ask you to provide additional information to confirm your age."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"We may use your information where it is necessary to perform a task in the public interest, including undertaking research, preventing and detecting crime, safeguarding children and promoting public safety, security, and integrity as laid down by applicable law."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"You must be at least 13 years old to use the Platform."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"You can only use the Platform if you are 13 years or older, although for some features you need to be older (we will tell you when this is the case)."
terms of service · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"In short: You need to be 13 or over to use our Platform."
terms of service · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"Access to certain features of the Platform depends on your age."
terms of service · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"Advertisers, measurement and other partners share information with us about you and the actions you have taken outside of the Platform, such as your activities on other websites and apps or in stores, including the products or services you purchased, online or in person."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"These partners also share information with us, such as mobile identifiers for advertising, hashed email addresses and phone numbers, and cookie identifiers, which we use to help match you and your actions outside of the Platform with your TikTok account."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"These partners are required to have the necessary rights and permissions to share your information with us before doing so."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"You can delete or ask us to delete your information."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"We retain information for as long as necessary to provide the Platform and for the other purposes set out in this Privacy Policy."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"We also retain information when necessary to comply with contractual and legal obligations, when we have a legitimate business interest to do so (such as improving and developing the Platform, and enhancing its safety, security and stability), and for the exercise or defence of legal claims."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"We collect information that you provide when you set up an account, such as your date of birth, username, email address and/or telephone number, and password."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"We collect the content you create, import, upload or publish through the Platform, such as photographs, videos, audio recordings, livestreams, comments, hashtags, feedback, reviews, and the associated metadata (such as when, where, and by whom the content was created)."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
"We collect the content of the messages you send and receive on the Platform and the associated metadata (such as the time the message was sent, received or read, as well as the participants in the communication)."
privacy policy · read from their site on 2026-11-12
EEA version
Changed at some point between the Internet Archive captures of 2025-10-02 and 2025-11-15. Capture 2025-10-02 · Capture 2025-11-15
EEA version
Changed at some point between the Internet Archive captures of 2025-10-02 and 2025-11-15. Capture 2025-10-02 · Capture 2025-11-15
For about 70 minutes on 2026-11-08, TikTok's dossier showed the grade "Privacy: A".
Why: TikTok's privacy policy page builds itself with JavaScript, so our reader received an empty page, and the software read "found nothing" as "tested, nothing found". The grade was computed when the page loaded and was never stored.
Fixed on 2026-11-08: a page we cannot read is recorded as "could not read" and is never tested; finding nothing never produces a grade; and no grade about a real company is shown anywhere.
Example in the loop: TikTok's record (Data Protection Commission, Ireland).
Official record: Data Protection Commission (Ireland), case "IN-21-9-2", dated 2025-04-30 on the authority's own page; respondent or addressee: TikTok Technology Limited; procedural status as of 2026-11-09: decision issued; appeal status not stated on the authority's page.
| Legal entity named | TikTok Technology Limited |
|---|---|
| Linked to TikTok through | its confirmed legal entity TikTok Technology Limited (confirmed by entity-gate v1 (2026-11-09)) |
| Jurisdiction | IE |
| Law cited | GDPR Art. 46(1); GDPR Art. 13(1)(f) |
| Penalty, as written | "€530 million" |
| Procedural status | decision issued; appeal status not stated on the authority's page |
| Decision dated | 2025-04-30 |
| Published by the authority | 2025-05-02 |
| Procedural status checked on | 2026-11-09 |
| Retrieved by us | 2026-11-09 |
| Approved for this page by | records-gate v1 (automatic: verified word for word on the authority's own site, 2 of 3 models agreed; proof stored), 2026-11-09 |
| Source | Official page archived copy SHA-256 deb365d9ada6c4bd… |
Official record: Data Protection Commission (Ireland), case "IN-21-9-1", dated 2023-09-01 on the authority's own page; respondent or addressee: TikTok Technology Limited; procedural status as of 2026-11-09: decision issued; appeal status not stated on the authority's page.
| Legal entity named | TikTok Technology Limited |
|---|---|
| Linked to TikTok through | its confirmed legal entity TikTok Technology Limited (confirmed by entity-gate v1 (2026-11-09)) |
| Jurisdiction | IE |
| Law cited | GDPR Art. 5(1)(a); GDPR Art. 5(1)(c); GDPR Art. 5(1)(f); GDPR Art. 12(1); GDPR Art. 13(1)(e); GDPR Art. 24(1); GDPR Art. 25(1); GDPR Art. 25(2) |
| Penalty, as written | "€345 million" |
| Procedural status | decision issued; appeal status not stated on the authority's page |
| Decision dated | 2023-09-01 |
| Published by the authority | 2023-09-15 |
| Procedural status checked on | 2026-11-09 |
| Retrieved by us | 2026-11-09 |
| Approved for this page by | records-gate v1 (automatic: verified word for word on the authority's own site, 2 of 3 models agreed; proof stored), 2026-11-09 |
| Source | Official page archived copy SHA-256 801700d81fdfa53c… |
Each case reference, date and penalty above appears word for word in our archived copy of the official page. Official decisions are context: they never change a grade.