Improving Privacy Protection for Teens
According to TikTok, the changes will be rolled out globally in the coming months. The new protections will target users under the age of 18. Some of the new protections are:
New users, aged 16-17, will have direct messages set to ‘No one’ by default. Existing users will receive a prompt to review and confirm their settings. Teens aged 16-17 will be able to decide whether their videos can be downloaded by others. Downloads were disabled for teens aged 13-15 in an earlier update. TikTok will also introduce rules to limit push notifications. Users aged 13-15 will not receive notifications after 9 PM. For teens aged 16-17, the daily cut-off time is 10 PM. In an update rolled out in January, TikTok banned their ‘Duet’ and ‘Stitch’ tools for users aged 13-15. These features allow users to collaborate with other videos, either by adding videos side-by-side, or by merging videos.
Tracy Elizabeth, TikTok’s Global Minor Safety Policy Lead, said that the company’s priority is “to ensure teens on TikTok have a safe and age-appropriate experience as they create and share on our platform.”
Growing Regulatory Pressure
These changes reflect TikTok’s global mindset. The social networking platform is one of the most addictive apps on the market, due to its “advanced personalization technology, interactive design and simple interface, and psychological tricks.” The new privacy protections come at a time where the US is asking technology companies to do more to protect young users. The US Congress is working on legislation, such as an update to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This update expands COPPA to include those under the age of 18, while also stopping companies from using targeted ads. Consequently, there is a broader shift in the tech industry with regards to how they treat younger users. This includes an increased focus on issues such as screen time, addictiveness, online abuse, data collection, and privacy. Companies such as Google, Youtube, and Instagram have also introduced policies that cater to protection of teenagers on their platforms. For more information on privacy settings and data collection on social media, along with tips on what you can do to protect yourself, check out our detailed resource on Privacy on Social Media.
