Capcut: your favorite app is using you

Your favorite editing app is using you- and chances are you don’t even know. 

Capcut is by far the most popular and widely used editing apps as of January 2025,  surpassing a whopping one billion downloads on the Google play store alone. And there’s no question why: it’s simple to use and quick to export, with tons of easy and ready to go effects at your fingertips. When sophomore  Luca Sanchez Hightower was asked what uses the app provides, he responded: “I use it for school projects … The formatting is really convenient.” However,  while Capcut might look harmless, there are actually hidden dangers you are susceptible to as soon as you open the app. 

Capcut updated their terms of service on June 12, 2025. And that long essay people usually just skim over was filled with a lot of important- and scary- information. The company now has rights over all of your content produced on Capcut, meaning they have the ability to edit, monetize, and use in ads without your permission. These new terms are irrevocable, and it applies to even private videos you’ve never exported, including drafts. So basically, Capcut has the right to use your voice, face, and editing work in any of their ads, and resell them to whoever they want. You consent to this as soon as you open the app, and you cannot take this permission away. When I informed Ava Prendergast, a sophomore and Capcut user, she was alarmed. “Oh my gosh, I didn’t know that. That’s really crazy.”

But it gets worse. Capcut is not only able to sell and use your content, they also do so without notifying you or compensating you. If they get sued using your content, they don’t pay the price, you do. This means you pay Capcut’s legal fees, even when they didn’t compensate you or notify you about using your content. Nobody is safe from these new terms of service. Luckily, there are many alternatives for editing apps that protect your privacy, such as Alight Motion, Videostar, Video Editor, Blurr and more. These are all free alternatives that give the same, if not better quality than Capcut does. “This would dissuade me from using Capcut, I’m going to use something else [to edit],” Ava concludes.

When making an app, users’ privacy should be your number one priority. From these new terms of service, it is clear that Capcut is unconcerned with the confidentiality of their consumers- and most Capcut users are completely unaware. Using safer alternatives for your editing and always doing further research on the platforms you give your information to is vital for your safety online. So, next time you completely skip through the terms of service to press accept- think twice.