Like other social media platforms, TikTok regularly releases updates that add new functionality and refines the user experience.
The popularity of this short video platform has propelled it to the top of the charts of Gen Z’s favorite apps, making it a household name. However, the app’s security and privacy are constantly under criticism.
Today, I’ll take a look at one feature of the app: “saving TikTok video” that has stirred a lot of confusion and queries among its users and see how it all fits together!
Does TikTok Tell You Who Saved Your Video?
At the moment, TikTok doesn’t reveal who has downloaded your videos. Therefore, if someone downloads or saves your video, you won’t receive a notification or alert from TikTok.
Although you can see how many views a video has received along with the other metrics such as the number of likes, comments, favorites, and shares, you won’t be able to see how many downloads the video has received.
When users find a video on TikTok that they like, they will typically hit the “save or download video” button. It is more of a way of conveying that they have liked your content and wish to add it to their video collection.
Few users on TikTok have previously reported that they were able to track when their video was saved. Some people received a notification whenever someone saved their videos on the platform, even though not everyone had access to this feature.
This shows that TikTok has been conducting beta testing on this kind of feature, and I can anticipate them releasing this new feature to the general public in the near future. However, there’s no proper guarantee of it.
Will You Come To Know If Someone Has Screen Recorded Your Video?
One of the most important things today is protecting your privacy online. especially on platforms and social media apps like TikTok.
No one wants their privacy to be compromised, and everyone wants to be free from the concern that someone might use their video content without their permission.
But there is nothing you can do to stop people from screen recording or taking live photos of your TikTok videos, which is one method by which people typically save TikTok videos.
This indicates that TikTok does not alert the video’s creator when their TikTok content is being screen recorded or screenshotted by another user of the app.
Limiting other users’ access to your TikTok profile is the only way to prevent this from happening if you’re wondering how to do so.
Every user on the platform has access to your content when you set your account to public, so they can simply screen-record your videos. However, you can restrict access by setting your profile to private so that only your approved followers can view your videos.
This way you can protect your privacy by limiting access to your content only to those you know and trust.
Does TikTok tell you who viewed your video?
In this scenario, the direct answer is NO; TikTok does not reveal the names of specific users who have viewed your videos, but it does reveal how many video views you have received in total from the TikTok analytics.
Before 2020, TikTok had a feature where some TikTok creators could see the video viewer’s names, but as of now, this feature is no longer present. We don’t yet know why TikTok removed this feature, but we can surely expect that it might reappear at some point in the future.
There is a small trick to this, though. You can look through the individuals who have watched your videos and interacted with them, such as those who have liked and commented on them — these are the people who have definitely seen your TikTok videos.
However, you won’t be able to identify someone who has simply watched your video and not interacted with it in any way.
In a similar vein, you can no longer check to see who has viewed your TikTok stories, unlike on other platforms like Instagram. Previously, TikTok allowed its users to see exactly who had viewed their stories but currently, this feature isn’t available.
How To Turn Off Downloads For Your TikTok Videos
TikTok gives you complete freedom to decide whether you want someone to download your video or not, so don’t worry if you want to keep the privacy of your videos on the platform and don’t want anyone to download them.
In case a person is below the age of 16, TikTok automatically disables the video download feature from their account, resulting in them being unable to enable the option for others to download their videos.
Now coming to TikTok users above the age of 16, there are 2 scenarios that come to play here:
#1 — You have a private account
In case you switch your profile to private so that only your followers can see your posts, the download TikTok videos option will be disabled automatically and you cannot turn it on.
#2 — You have a public account
If you have a public account on the platform, you can choose to turn on or off the “Video Download” settings.
For turning it off, follow these quick steps:
Step 1 — Open TikTok app and tap the Profile icon in the bottom right of your screen.
Step 2 — Now, tap the 3-line icon in the top right of your screen
Step 3 — Next, tap Settings and Privacy
Step 4 — Tap Privacy and then head on to Downloads
Step 5 — Lastly, tap next to Video downloads to turn it Off
Source: TikTok
Quick note: There are a lot of third-party apps and video downloader tools that people can use to save multiple videos to their camera roll without watermark, so disabling the download option wouldn’t be helpful in this case.
How Can You Enhance Your Privacy On TikTok?
If you want more privacy on TikTok, I have curated these four tips!
#1 — Make your account private
Setting your TikTok account to private can be a great way to take control of your online presence and ensure that only the people you trust and want to share your content with are being able to see it.
You won’t have to deal with any creepy or harassing strangers on the site, making it a much more secure atmosphere overall.
#2 — Only allow friends to send messages
By limiting who can contact you on the platform to those you know and trust, you can better protect yourself from unwanted or potentially harmful messaging from strangers. Even I do this personally.
You’ll have a better time on the site if you limit your inbox to messages from people you already know and trust!
#3 — Turn off the download option
One of the best ways to prevent people from downloading your videos and using them offline is to disable the download feature.
By preventing the platform’s users from downloading your videos, you can upload them with peace of mind.
PS: Remember, there are always loopholes in social media. A user can still capture your videos via screen recorder and save them to their devices even if the download option is disabled.
#4 — Remove your profile from the recommendations
When you remove your TikTok username (account) from recommendations, it gives you more control over who can see your profile and interact with you as it stops the TikTok algorithm from recommending your profile to strangers on the platform.
It’s a great way to prevent strangers from prying into your life or getting too close to your private information.
Since you are now aware of everything there is to know about downloading videos from TikTok, you are in a position to make appropriate use of the app and ensure that you remain secure while using the platform!
