Law enforcement agencies worldwide are increasingly relying on TikTok user data as a source of intelligence, with the United States government making most inquiries.
A recent update to TikTok's privacy policy, which now explicitly mentions collecting sensitive user data such as sexual orientation and immigration status, has sparked user concerns that it could be disclosed to law enforcement agencies.
However, the government’s requests for TikTok user information have been surging since 2019, according to a Surfshark analysis of the platform’s transparency data.
Between 2019 and 2024, the total number of law enforcement requests for user data increased by nearly 5,000%, from 798 to 40,141. The requests include legal, emergency, and preservation orders.
Luís Costa, Research and Insights Team Lead at Surfshark, says the most concerning aspect is the trajectory of legal requests, which account for the majority of governmental inquiries.
In 2024, nearly 72% (28,794) of all requests were legal, resulting in authorities successfully obtaining user data 61% of the time.
“This trend shows no signs of slowing down. In the first half of 2025, TikTok reported 18,075 legal requests – a figure already more than half of the total registered for the entire year of 2024,” Costa says.
Experts warn that law enforcement could use sensitive user information to criminalize miscarriages in states with total abortion bans. There are also heightened concerns over disclosing immigration status amid a widespread crackdown on immigrants in the US.
The authorities’ requests are becoming more effective, as the global disclosure rate for legal requests has risen to 65% in the first half of 2025, up from 61% the previous year, the analysis found.
This trend shows no signs of slowing down. In the first half of 2025, TikTok reported 18,075 legal requests – a figure already more than half of the total registered for the entire year of 2024.
Luís Costa
The US made the most requests, which included legal, emergency, and preservation, totalling 5,705. It was followed by Germany with 5,078 requests and the UK with 2,957.
The French government asked TikTok for user data 2,344 times.
Germany was the leader in legal requests in the first half of 2025, with German authorities making 4,696 inquiries, of which 72% resulted in data disclosure.
The US authorities made 3,283 legal requests in the first half of the year, of which more than half (58%) resulted in data being disclosed.
The previous version of the article included incorrect numbers of law enforcement requests in the first half of 2025 in individual countries. The article was updated to reflect lower inquiry numbers.
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