TikTok Introduces New Privacy Features for Teenagers

TikTok shows its care by introducing new features to protect its teenage users. The video-sharing app has announced its new privacy protections for users under 18.

With the introduction of the new features, accounts with users falling under this age group will have their privacy setting defaulted to private; viewers approved by these users could only view videos.

Later on, these users could change the privacy settings to make the videos public.

In a recent release, the company stated:

By engaging them early in their privacy journey, we can enable them to make more deliberate decisions about their online privacy,

Likewise, the “Suggest your account to others” setting will be turned off by default.

It is also mentioned that some other updates include limiting the comments section for users ageing between 13 and 15 to friends-only or no one at all and will allow video downloading for users ageing between 16 and 17. They will also have their default setting on Friends only.

TikTok is also building on previous updates to promote youth safety, including restricting direct messaging and hosting live streams to users 16 and over.

It is further said that the video-sharing app will limit any buying, sending, or receiving of virtual gifts to users 18 and over, and enable a Family Pairing feature, which allows parents/guardians to set guardrails on their teen’s videos.