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 Here’s what you should know about the US TikTok deal TikTok’s Privacy Policy ** 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! ** 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”. **

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TikTok’s New U.S. Deal and Privacy Policy: What Users Don’t Understand is an episode from The Shared Security Podcast by Tom Eston and Scott Wright.

This episode is 16:16 long.

This episode was published on Feb 23, 2026.

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