Risk Score
0 = very fair · 100 = very risky
Summary
This is TikTok's U.S. Terms of Service (updated January 22, 2026), governing use of the TikTok platform operated by TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. Users retain ownership of their content but grant TikTok an extremely broad, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide license including for AI training purposes. The document heavily limits TikTok's liability, caps damages at $100 or amounts paid in the last 12 months, and allows TikTok to remove content or terminate accounts at its discretion. Overall, the terms are significantly weighted in TikTok's favor, with broad content licensing, minimal liability exposure for TikTok, and limited recourse for users.
Flagged Clauses
TikTok can use everything you post — videos, images, audio, even your AI prompts and outputs — to train their AI systems, forever, without paying you. They can also pass this license down to partners and service providers. You cannot revoke this license once content is posted.
“You grant TikTok a license that is 'non-exclusive, irrevocable, and royalty-free... assignable and sub-licensable, including through multiple tiers... worldwide' and includes rights to 'reproduce, distribute, adapt or make derivative works, perform, and communicate Your Content to the public... for the purposes of operating, improving, and providing the Platform and developing new technologies (including training, testing, and improving our machine learning models and algorithms)'”
When you post content publicly, every other TikTok user also gets a permanent, irrevocable license to copy, remix, and redistribute your content. You cannot revoke this after the fact.
“Other users are also granted 'a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual and irrevocable, worldwide license to use Your Content, including to access, reproduce, distribute, share, download, adapt or make derivative works... in accordance with these Terms.'”
Any ideas or suggestions you share with TikTok become their property. They owe you nothing for using your ideas and you give up any claim to inventions or products they develop from your input.
“'If you choose to submit comments, ideas, or feedback to us, you give us permission to use them... for any purpose, without any restriction or compensation to you... We will own all rights in anything we develop based on your comments, ideas, or feedback.'”
Your data and content are shared with affiliated companies and business partners, including for advertising and commercial purposes. The terms do not clearly limit what data is shared or with whom, deferring instead to a separate Privacy Policy.
“TikTok works with 'BD TikTok USA LLC (hereinafter referred to as "TT Commerce & Global Services") and its affiliates, and our affiliates, to provide certain important functions of the Platform... including in connection with e-commerce, marketing, advertising, and other commercial services and activities.'”
TikTok tracks and profiles you both on and off the platform, including using data received from outside sources, to serve targeted ads. This tracking extends beyond TikTok itself.
“'We may also customize your experience, including the ads you see on and off the Platform... you agree that we can customize ads and other sponsored content... based on, among other points, information we receive from third parties.'”
TikTok can use your name, photo, and username in advertisements and sponsored content shown to others, and they earn money from this without compensating you.
“'We may receive compensation from our advertisers and our partners with which you choose to interact. To enable these features, you give us permission to use your name, profile image and username, in connection with ads, sponsored gifts, offers, and other branded or sponsored content that you interact with, without any compensation to you.'”
No matter what harm TikTok causes you — data breaches, content removal, account termination — the most they can ever owe you is $100 (or what you paid them in the past year, which for most free users is $0). This is an extremely low liability cap.
“'The maximum aggregate liability of TikTok USDS Joint Venture and our affiliates... arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform shall, under no circumstance, exceed the greater of $100 or the amount you have paid us in the past 12 months.'”
If TikTok removes your content, shuts down a feature, or even ends the entire service, they bear no financial responsibility to you. This includes situations where your content or account is removed, even if you believe it was done in error.
“TikTok disclaims liability for 'any changes which we may make to the Services, or for any permanent or temporary interruption or cessation in the provision of the Platform (or any features within the Services)' and 'the removal or unavailability of any content, including due to enforcement of our rules or compliance with court orders.'”
TikTok makes absolutely no promises about the platform working correctly, being secure, or being suitable for any purpose. You use it entirely at your own risk.
“'We and our affiliates make no guarantees that the Platform... will be safe, secure, and free from errors... [and disclaim] ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, VALIDITY, REGISTRABILITY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.'”
TikTok can remove or restrict any of your content at any time, for broadly defined reasons. The phrase 'for any reason' combined with 'may cause harm' gives TikTok very wide discretion to act against your content.
“'We may remove or restrict access to any content, including yours, whether publicly or privately posted, for any reason, including if (a) it violates these Terms... (b) it may cause harm to, or violate the rights of, our users... or (c) we are required to do so to comply with a legal requirement or court order, or are permitted to do so by law.'”
If you don't log in for 6 months, TikTok can take your username and give it to someone else. If your account is banned, your username is also lost.
“'We may revoke, reclaim, and/or reassign the username of your account in certain circumstances, such as, when you have not logged into your account for 180 days, if we ban your account, or if we reasonably believe that your username violates our Terms...'”
Even after you delete your content, it can remain visible on the platform if another user has incorporated it into their content. You cannot fully erase content that others have remixed or used.
“'We will no longer publicly display your deleted content except as provided in Section 3.5... (which explains, for example, that Your Content will remain publicly accessible on the Platform if it has been incorporated into content posted by other users).'”
TikTok acknowledges that you own the content you create and post. However, this ownership is significantly limited in practical terms by the very broad license you grant to TikTok and other users.
“'Except with respect to TikTok Content and unless expressly stated otherwise, as between you and TikTok USDS Joint Venture, you own Your Content.'”
Your agreement with TikTok is governed by multiple layered documents that can override these main Terms. Changes to any of these subsidiary policies could materially affect your rights without a full re-review of the main Terms.
“The document references additional terms and policies (Music Terms, Virtual Items Policy, Subscription Terms, etc.) that can conflict with or expand upon these Terms, with additional terms prevailing in case of conflict.”
If you purchase virtual items (coins, diamonds, etc.) and your account is terminated or the service shuts down, these Terms alone do not explain whether you get any refund or compensation. You would need to review the separate Virtual Items Policy.
“Virtual Items are governed by a separate Virtual Items Policy. The main Terms do not describe what happens to virtual coins, diamonds, or other purchased virtual items upon account termination or service shutdown.”
Missing Protections
- No explicit arbitration clause or class action waiver is visible in this excerpt — it may be in a linked/separate document but is not present here
- No clear data deletion guarantee — the document does not explicitly state how long TikTok retains your data after account deletion
- No explicit promise of notice before material changes to the Terms are made — the document does not describe how or when users are notified of updates
- No description of auto-renewal terms in the main ToS — deferred entirely to a separate Subscription Terms document
- No explicit data portability rights described — users are not told they can export or receive a copy of their data
- No explicit retention limits on the irrevocable content license — the Terms do not specify if the license ends if content is deleted and not incorporated by others
- No service level agreement or uptime guarantee of any kind
- No explicit process for account reinstatement after wrongful termination beyond a generic mention of an 'appeal'
Fair Terms
- TikTok explicitly acknowledges that users retain ownership of their content ('you own Your Content'), rather than claiming full ownership as some platforms do
- The document includes a dedicated Under 13 Experience with a separate Children's Privacy Policy and additional safety protections, showing awareness of COPPA obligations
- Users under 18 have some features disabled or restricted, indicating age-appropriate design considerations
- Users can delete specific videos or their entire account at any time, providing some control over content removal
- TikTok states it monitors for underage use and will ban accounts that don't meet minimum age requirements
- Users have an appeal mechanism if their account is banned or restricted
- The document includes plain-English 'In short' summaries after each section, improving readability and transparency
Document information only — not legal advice.