There are viral dances. There are life hacks. There are adorable animals. Or maybe you don’t have to watch FYP videos until 2 a.m.
Maybe it’s time to delete the TikTok app.
TikTok recently hit the one billion user mark, making it well on its way to becoming the next Instagram. The app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has also seen its share of controversy. It has recently been criticized for its effect on teenagers’ body image. It was also the subject of academic challenges, including one encouraging students to “hit a co-worker”. Previously, Trump-era executive orders attempted to ban the app and cited security concerns about data collection.
If you’re looking to get rid of your TikTok, here is a step-by-step guide on what the process looks like and all of the verifications you need to make to delete your TikTok.
A couple of things to keep in mind: Before you delete your TikTok, the app will automatically ask if you want to receive all the data associated with the account in the form of a txt or json file.
What data does TikTok send you?
I actually went through the inquiry process and after a few days TikTok sent me a file with folders like Activities, Ads and Data, App Settings, Comments, Direct Messages, Profile and Video.
When you open it, each data entry contains information such as date, link and message, depending on its content.
For example, every comment I ever made was saved to this scrollable file along with the date and time I made the comment.
How to delete TikTok and request your data
Trying to delete your TikTok will actually only deactivate your account for 30 days, meaning it will not be visible to the public. If you have the willpower to persist for more than 30 days, your account and all data related to it will be permanently deleted.
TikTok and data protection:What is the problem? Maybe the video sharing app is collecting too much data
This is how it works:
1. Go to My Profile (the people icon in the lower right corner) and tap the triple bars in the upper right corner.
2. Tap Manage Account> Delete Account.
3. Click Delete Account.
4. Choose whether you want to download your data (or not).
You can send a request to download your TikTok data. The request can take a few days and the data is available for download four days after it has been made available.
The data includes your user name, profile photo, biography, contact details, video history, comment history, chat history, such as history, favorites history, privacy settings, notification settings and language settings.
The data can be downloaded in the form of a TXT (human readable) or a JSON (machine readable) file.
Note that you can stop at this step to see all of your data and not have to do a full erase. You can simply return to this screen a few days later to view your data.
5. Confirm the deletion with a two-step check.
Once you click Delete, your account will be deactivated for 30 days. After that, you will no longer be able to access your account, videos, and drafts.
Congratulations, you have completed all of the steps to delete your TikTok!
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Michelle Shen is a money and tech digital reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at @ michelle_shen10 on Twitter.
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