TikTok is expanding its data collection empire, and avoiding the app won’t protect you — but some simple steps can protect you, reports BBC.
TikTok tracks everything you do on its app – no surprises in this regard. Less obvious is how your company follows you in other parts of the internet that have nothing to do with TikTok.
In fact TikTok collects sensitive and potentially embarrassing information about you, even if you’ve never used the app. Over the past week, I’ve watched websites submit data to TikTok about cancer diagnoses, fertility, and even mental health crises. It’s part of a tracking empire that extends far beyond the social media platform. Now, thanks to a new set of features, TikTok is ready to expand its network and see even more details about your life.
The change comes just weeks after TikTok’s US operations were sold to a group of companies linked to US President Donald Trump. The deal has raised new privacy concerns from some human rights experts and users, although TikTok claims it has transparent guidelines for how it responds to government requests for data.
Fortunately, this is a privacy story with a positive note. A few simple steps you can take in about five minutes will help you keep your information safe from TikTok.
The issue is related to major changes to TikTok’s “pixel” – a tracking tool that companies use to monitor your online behavior. I asked a cybersecurity company called Disconnect to analyze it. They found that the updated TikTok pixel collects information in unusual ways compared to its competitors.
“It’s extremely invasive,” says Patrick Jackson, Chief Technology Officer at Disconnect. “This advanced data sharing, when you do analysis of the actual pixel code, you see things that look really bad.”
TikTok claims that its users are informed of its data processing practices in privacy policies and notices in some cases. The company also says it’s giving people privacy settings to take control.
“TikTok provides users with transparent information about its privacy practices and gives them multiple tools to customize their user experience”says a TikTok spokesperson. “Ad pixels are an industry standard and are widely used across social and media platforms, including by the BBC.”
But most people may not realize that TikTok stores data about them even if they have never used the social media platform.
TikTok is tracking your every move even when not on the app — these are the steps to stop it pic.twitter.com/JzU2NRZtp8
— New York Post (@nypost) February 11, 2026
Invisible tracker
Tracking pixels are nothing new. For years, companies that run ad networks — including Google, Meta, and hundreds of others — have used them to eavesdrop on what people are doing on the web. They are an invisible one-pixel image of your screen that loads in the background on a website full of data collection technologies. They are everywhere and they are constantly watching you.
Here’s how it works. TikTok, for example, encourages companies to place pixels on their websites to help the social media giant collect more data. Let’s say I have an online shoe store. If I use a pixel, it allows TikTok to collect a lot of data about my customers in order to show them targeted ads. Additionally, it helps TikTok understand whether people who see these shoe ads end up making a purchase. That way I know the ads I’ve paid for are working and maybe I’ll pay for more. (Like most news organisations, the BBC uses analytics tools and shares data with advertising partners in accordance with our privacy policy . The BBC does not use TikTok tracking pixels on its website, nor does it place advertising pixels on third-party sites.)
When it comes to data from shoe stores, the information may be innocuous. But I’ve been writing about TikTok’s data collection for years, and the pixels can collect extremely personal information.
For example, last week I visited the website of a cancer support group. According to Disconnect, when I clicked a button on a form that said I was a cancer patient or survivor, the website sent my email address to TikTok along with that data. A women’s health company sent data to TikTok when I looked into fertility tests. A mental health organization pinged TikTok when I indicated I was looking for a crisis counselor. Websites that use pixels send data for each individual visitor, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a TikTok account.
A TikTok spokesperson says this is essentially not TikTok’s responsibility. According to them, websites are required to comply with privacy laws and inform you of their data practices. TikTok says websites are prohibited from sharing certain types of sensitive information, such as health data. And the company says it takes proactive steps to warn websites that share inappropriate content.
Source: BBC
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date:2026-02-13 04:40:00