{“lastseen”:”2026-01-30T12:05:10″,”description”:”In 2026, could any five words be more chilling than \u201cWe\u2019re changing our privacy terms?\u201d \\n\\nThe timing could not have been worse for TikTok US when it sent millions of US users a mandatory privacy pop-up on January 22. The message forced users to accept updated terms if they wanted to keep using the app. Buried in that update was language about collecting \u201ccitizenship or immigration status.\u201d\\n\\nSpecifically, TikTok said:\\n\\n\\u003e \u201cInformation You Provide may include sensitive personal information, as defined under applicable state privacy laws, such as information from users under the relevant age threshold, information you disclose in survey responses or in your user content about your racial or ethnic origin, national origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information.\u201d\\n\\nThe internet reacted badly. TikTok users took to social media, with some suggesting that TikTok was building a database of immigration status, and others pledging to delete their accounts. It didn\u2019t help that TikTok\u2019s US operation became a US-owned company on the same day, with Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) criticizing what he sees as a lack of transparency around the deal.\\n\\n## A legal requirement\\n\\nIn this case, things are may be less sinister than you’d think. The language is not new\u2014it first appeared around August 2024. And TikTok is _not_ asking users to provide their immigration status directly.\\n\\nInstead, the disclosure covers sensitive information that users might voluntarily share in videos, surveys, or interactions with AI features.\\n\\nThe change appears to be driven largely by California\u2019s AB-947, signed in October 2023. The law added immigration status to the state\u2019s definition of sensitive personal information, placing it under stricter protections. Companies are required to disclose how they process sensitive personal information, even if they do not actively seek it out.\\n\\nOther social media companies, including Meta, do not explicitly mention immigration status in their privacy policies. According to TechCrunch, that difference likely reflects how specific their disclosure language is\u2014not a meaningful difference in what data is actually collected.\\n\\nOne meaningful change in TikTok\u2019s updated policy _does_ concern location tracking. Previous versions stated that TikTok did not collect GPS data from US users. The new policy says it may collect precise location data, depending on user settings. Users can reportedly opt out of this tracking.\\n\\n## Read the whole board, not just one square\\n\\nSo, does this mean TikTok\u2014or any social media company\u2014deserves our trust? That\u2019s a harder question.\\n\\nThere are still red flags. In April, TikTok quietly removed a commitment to notify users before sharing data with law enforcement. According to Forbes, the company has also declined to say whether it shares, or would share, user data with agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).\\n\\nThat uncertainty is the real issue. Social media companies are notorious for collecting vast amounts of user data, and for being vague about how it may be used later. Outrage over a particularly explicit disclosure is understandable, but the privacy problem runs much deeper than a single policy update from one company.\\n\\nPeople have reason to worry unless platforms explicitly commit to not collecting or inferring sensitive data\u2014and explicitly commit to not sharing it with government agencies. And even then, skepticism is healthy. These companies have a long history of changing policies quietly when it suits them.\\n\\n* * *\\n\\n**We don ‘t just report on data privacy\u2014we help you remove your personal information**\\n\\nCybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. With Malwarebytes Personal Data Remover, you can scan to find out which sites are exposing your personal information, and then delete that sensitive data from the internet.”,”published”:”2026-01-30T11:48:41″,”modified”:”2026-01-30T11:48:41″,”type”:”malwarebytes”,”title”:”TikTok\u2019s privacy update mentions immigration status. Here\u2019s why.”,”source”:””,”references”:””,”id”:”MALWAREBYTES:5E696E665520E3DB80D9BE64A61635A0″,”bulletinFamily”:”blog”,”cwe”:null,”cvelist”:[],”sourceData”:””,”sourceHref”:””,”cvss”:{“score”:0,”severity”:”NONE”,”vector”:”NONE”,”version”:”NONE”},”cvss2″:{},”cvss3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””,”cvssV3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””}},”href”:”https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/blog\/news\/2026\/01\/tiktoks-privacy-update-mentions-immigration-status-heres-why”,”category_name”:”News”,”post_link”:””,”product”:””,”version”:””,”vendor”:””,”ai_description”:””,”ai_severity”:””,”ai_vendor”:””,”ai_product”:””,”ai_version”:””,”ai_score”:0}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{“lastseen”:”2026-01-30T12:05:10″,”description”:”In 2026, could any five words be more chilling than \u201cWe\u2019re changing our privacy terms?\u201d \\n\\nThe timing could not have been worse for TikTok US…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6,8,12,115,13,33,7,11,5],"class_list":["post-38305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-category_news","tag-cve","tag-cvss","tag-exploit","tag-malwarebytes","tag-news","tag-none","tag-security","tag-tapic","tag-vulnerability"],"yoast_head":"\n