US senators seek clarification on TikTok’s new privacy statement

Two US senators are asking TikTok’s CEO to explain more about the use of biometric data that the company has been collecting on its US users since early June. The senators say they are “alarmed” by TikTok’s plans.

In the letter, US Senators Amy Klobuchar and John Thune ask TikTok’s CEO to clarify the terms faceprint and voiceprint, which the company uses in its new US terms of use. The senators are upset that TikTok does not provide detailed information about how the company will use this biometric user data and which third parties it may share it with.

The senators also ask in the letter whether the biometric data is collected from persons under the age of eighteen, whether machine learning is applied and how long the biometric data is stored. The company must also provide more clarity about how it makes recommendations for content and advertisements, and how this collected data will be used for this.

In early June, TikTok introduced new terms of use and privacy for all US users. The new conditions stated that the social media company may automatically collect biometric data about its users. This data includes facial prints, faceprints, and voice recordings, voiceprints. The European terms of use of TikTok does not mention the collection of faceprints and voiceprints.