When it comes to Likee’s official privacy statement, language is purposefully vague. This means you don’t know what information the company collects and where it ends up. In general, Likee collects:
Profile information (gender, place of residence, social media information, and more) User-generated content (your comments, posts, photos, and videos) Biometric data (facial recognition) Social network contacts The user’s location Network activity (browser history, search history) Device information (operating system, browser type, IP address, apps, language settings, and more)
If you want more information about Likee, including how to optimize your settings and delete your account, check out the full article below. The Likee app for Android and iOS is freely available in their app stores. In the Google Play Store, Likee has more than 500 million downloads. The video-sharing platform is clearly very popular, but is the Likee app safe? Not only is Likee flooded with inappropriate content, but the app also provides many risks when it comes to data collection. In this article, we dive into the privacy risks of Likee and explain why it’s best to stay away from this invasive app.
What Is Likee?
In short, Likee is:
A social media platform for sharing and watching videos Built on a system that uses smart recommendation technologies An app that gives users the option to make money from popular videos
Through Likee, you have access to videos that other users have posted. These self-created videos can be enhanced with filters, text, or music. Likee employs smart recommendation technologies to deliver information that is tailored to you. Additionally, you can filter information by location or conduct a search for certain hashtags. Active users can “level up” for things like posting videos, growing their fan base, interacting with other users, and opening the app every single day. Additionally, the company provides in-app purchases, boasts celebrity-generated content, and advertises the potential to profit from your videos if they become popular. On the outside, Likee seems to be just like any other social media app. However, in comparison to other apps, the amount of inappropriate content on the platform is astonishing. Even so, the app is extremely popular.
Who is using Likee?
According to the top data and analytics organization App Annie, Likee was the sixth most downloaded app worldwide during the first quarter of 2020. The number of downloads for the app increased by 208.3 percent in comparison to 2019. However, the app is not without controversy, and not only when it comes to the amount of inappropriate content on Likee. In many nations around the world, privacy concerns about this app are growing. One of the fastest-growing apps on the Indian market, Likee had 330 million downloads in 2019, with 50 million of those coming from India. Being a great TikTok substitute, the app’s availability in 15 regional languages was one of the factors contributing to its popularity in India. But in June 2020, Likee was banned by the Indian government. Censorship in India is not a recent development, and the Likee app, like various others, was banned on vague grounds related to national security. Generally, we are skeptical of these oppressive censorship tactics. After looking into Likee, however, we’ve come to a startling conclusion: perhaps banning the app is justified.
Usability vs. Privacy
Using Likee is as easy as it gets. In fact, you don’t even need to create an account to access the app. You can search for content using hashtags or filters. Likee offers in-app purchases. And what’s more is that it makes it incredibly easy to connect with others via its Nearby feature that shows you people in your area. While this might seem like an optimal user experience, it creates many privacy risks. When you create a Likee account, you can use your phone number, connect via a different social media account (Facebook, Google) or create a new account. If you choose this last option, you have to submit a username, enter your date of birth and select your gender. Keep the following privacy concerns in mind:
As soon as you create an account, you automatically agree to the Terms of Service and Likee’s privacy policy. If you choose to connect your account to any of your other social media accounts, this grants Likee permission to access all the personal information and contacts connected to that account.
This begs the question: how does Likee treat your personal data?
Likee’s Privacy Policy and Data Management
In the first place, finding Likee’s privacy policy is a bit of a challenge. Because it’s not directly available on the official Likee website, we had to use Google to locate it. Once we were able to go through the privacy statement, a few things stood out right away. According to Likee’s privacy policy, users under the age of 16 are not permitted to use the Likee app. Additionally, in order to use the live streaming services, you must be at least 18 years old. Likee makes it clear that they follow the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation in order to protect underage users. Similar to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the United States, this law obligates companies to obtain parental consent before they can collect data on minors. However, as with COPPA, the fact that Likee claims to comply doesn’t actually keep children off their platform, which means they end up collecting data anyway — and a lot of it, too. Despite the fact that Likee is not safe for kids at all, the company has created a special privacy statement for its younger users under the age of 13. The kids’ version of the privacy policy is a direct contradiction of Likee’s claim that their app has a 16+ age restriction.
What Data Does Likee Collect?
As it turns out, Likee collects tons of data. By creating a Likee account, a user automatically consents to provide the following information:
Profile information, including education, gender, social network information, hometown, self-introduction, and career User-generated content comprising messages, comments, videos, photos, or anything else used within the app Facial recognition data (such processing will only take place offline, and no marketing or advertising will be done with such information without explicit consent) Your social network contacts the moment you initiate “Discover Friends,” which is a function supported by default Your location data, once you agree to share your location, which is enabled by default Any data your give from third-party social media once linked to your Likee account
For “contractual services,” Likee collects your registration information, including date of birth, phone number, email, password, and user identifier. On top of that, the service stores your payment details, including bank account information, PayPal, or any other method of payment. When it comes to all the information that Likee gathers for your “legitimate interests,” things get even less privacy-sensitive. This is a reference to the algorithms that are used to deliver video content to you that you want to see. Again, this information is absolutely private. To provide you with an overview, we’ve included the most important data below: Likee does mention explicitly which information doesn’t get collected. This includes:
Your race or ethnicity Your religious, philosophical, or political convictions Trade union membership Health details, including genetic and biometric data
Do keep in mind that all of this information will be collected if you choose to include it in your videos. Since it pertains to user-generated content, Likee will still collect and store the data.
Does Likee Share Your Data With Third Parties?
The official privacy statement indicates that everything from your browser history to your device information may be shared with external advertisers and analytics companies. With regard to third-party trackers, it becomes clear that Likee has no issues sharing your data widely. Based on the privacy statement, Likee has the right to share your information with just about anyone, including cloud storage companies, advertisers, IT providers, and others. To make things worse, the phrasing “including, but not limited to,” which is continuously used throughout the policy statement creates a lack of transparency: Likee can basically share your information with whomever they please. Finally, Likee reserves the right to share your information with external parties under “special circumstances” and with your (implicit or explicit) permission. The fact that you automatically agree to the privacy statement upon creating an account means any condition can be considered a special circumstance.
How Does Likee Store Your Data?
When you make a Likee account and share your information with the company, your data is:
Stored in Likee’s servers Encrypted when transferred Protected by firewalls Deleted within 24 months after your close your account Available to third parties after your account is deleted
Likee has data servers across the globe. The company is not very clear about where these servers are located exactly. Physical offices are stationed in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Neither of these is known for its privacy-sensitive legislation. In fact, censorship in the United Arab Emirates is among the worst in the world. Your data will be stored for as long as there’s a “reasonable business purpose.” Again, this vague phrasing is a risk when it comes to data privacy. If you choose to delete your account, Likee claims your data will be deleted after some time without indicating the exact time frame. The only claim they make is that your data will be deleted within 24 months, excluding anonymized data for analytics purposes. Third parties may also keep copies of your data, even after you’ve deleted your Likee account. On a more positive side, Likee claims to use encryption when transferring data from your system to Likee’s servers. According to the company, firewalls are also used to keep non-authorized persons outside of the systems. However, the company states that “You should use caution whenever submitting information through Likee Services and take special care in deciding which information you provide us with.” To top things off, Likee avoids liability by claiming that it can’t guarantee error-free performance under its user privacy policy. It “shall not be liable for any incidental, consequential, or punitive damages relating to this privacy policy.” All in all, Likee’s privacy policy is far from transparent and purposefully uses vague language to shield the company from accountability. In reality, this means you can never really know what information Likee collects and which parties it chooses to share this information with. If you care about your online privacy at all, Likee is not the social media platform to use.
Safety of the Likee App
Besides the privacy risks of Likee, using this app and its services also pose a threat to your online security. Let’s take a closer look.
App permissions
On top of unsafe data management, multiple risky permissions can be found in the app:
CAMERA: Take pictures and videos READ_CONTACTS: Read your contacts READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: Read the contents of your shared storage RECORD_AUDIO: Record audio WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: Modify or delete the contents of your shared storage
Poor privacy protection is not uncommon in social media companies. TikTok is not known to be very privacy-sensitive either, and experts have expressed concern about the risks of TikTok data being collected from its many users. Facebook, too, doesn’t handle your data with care. But Likee’s permissions, as well as its default settings, make things even worse.
Default settings
Users can make short videos on Likee, add music to them, and share them with other users. However, the Public setting is immediately applied to every new user’s account. Additionally, location sharing is always turned on. This implies that anyone can view both your location and whatever you choose to post. This is an instant red flag for platforms that have young users. An overview of the default functionalities: As you can see, anyone is able to message you, leave comments on your posts, suggest your account to others, and capture screenshots or screen recordings of your content. Finally, all notifications, including those for new hashtag posts, comments, private messages, and posts from persons you follow, are enabled by default.
How to Change Likee’s Privacy Settings
Can you make the Likee app safe? While it’s impossible to maintain privacy with this app, of course, there are changes you can make to ease some security concerns.
Recommended safety settings
The table below shows our recommended safety settings for Likee. Keep in mind that all profiles on Likee are public and that there’s no way to make them private.
How to delete your Likee account
You may choose to delete your Likee account completely. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it: Unfortunately, as mentioned in the privacy statement, Likee may still hold on to your data for a long time, even after deleting your account.
Stop Using Likee if You Are Concerned About Privacy
Likee is a very invasive service that’s not worth the risk if you’re worried about your online privacy. With its many permissions and vague privacy policy, this popular social media app collects heaps of your private data without any transparency. On top of that, this information is freely shared with many external parties, which adds to the long list of privacy risks of Likee. Moreover, keep in mind that the Likee app is not safe for kids either, as the amount of inappropriate content that’s featured on the platform makes it especially dangerous. If you’re interested in the privacy risks of other social media platforms and apps, have a look at the following guides:
How to Deactivate Your Instagram Account or Delete Instagram OnlyFans and Privacy: How to Stay Anonymous in 2023 How to Manage Your Privacy on Tinder
Want to know how to optimize your settings in this app? Check out our in-depth guide on handling Likee’s privacy risks. Content on Likee is also less varied than on TikTok. Most videos are graphic in nature.
