Likee

Is Likee safe?

Likee works and is widely used, but it asks for a lot of data and mixes teenage users with live streams that run on paid gifts. It tracks your device for advertising, can read your contacts and the list of your other apps, and was one of the apps India blocked in 2020. We score it 44/100, a little above Bigo Live (40), its sister app, and close to Kwai (42).

Likee launched in 2017 and is run from Singapore by LIKEME, part of JOYY's BIGO business with Bigo Live and imo. JOYY's 2025 annual report places Likee in the Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia, and says it makes money mainly from virtual tips during live streams and from ads. Google Play now lists it as "Likee-Live, Chat & Party Games", which says a lot about where the app is heading.

How Likee uses your data

Apple's privacy label says Likee uses your device ID to track you across other companies' apps and websites. Purchases, user ID and how you use the app are linked to your identity.

The Google Play form is longer. It lists approximate location, app interactions, search history, the apps installed on your phone, music and audio files, contacts, name, email, phone number, purchases and device or advertising IDs, the last used for advertising among other things. Photos and videos may be shared with other companies.

The privacy policy, updated in October 2025, says Likee does not sell personal data or share it for cross-context behavioural advertising. It does share "de-identified" advertising IDs with ad, marketing and analytics partners, and JOYY's annual report says its BIGO Ads network sells ads on Likee using first-party traffic. The installed-app list is used to tune your recommendations. Face and voice data for filters is processed on the device and not stored, the policy says.

Teenagers, gifts and strangers

The policy says Likee is not directed at children, and that anyone under 18 may use it only under a guardian's supervision. The stores tell a softer story: Apple rates the app 13+ with occasional mature or suggestive themes and lists messaging, user content and parental controls, and Google Play rates it Teen.

The risk is the same one we score on Bigo Live: live streams where viewers send paid gifts, and messages from people a teenager does not know. JOYY says it uses AI filters and thousands of moderators across Asia and the Middle East, and its annual report admits that apps in the group have been suspended in some markets over inappropriate content. In Pakistan, the telecom regulator reported by July 2026 that it had blocked 6,539 of the 6,730 Bigo and Likee links it had processed. Those are blocks of single videos or pages, not of the app. In April 2024 Likee disappeared from Apple's App Store in Russia, while the Android version stayed on Google Play. Neither Apple nor Likee gave a reason; the head of Russia's Safe Internet League, a pro-government group, suggested it was the content shown to young children.

The India block

On 29 June 2020 India's Ministry of Electronics and IT blocked 59 apps, including Likee, TikTok and Bigo Live, under section 69A of the IT Act. The ministry said the apps were "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India" and cited reports that they sent users' data to servers outside India. JOYY's 2025 annual report still lists the Indian block as a risk. We found no privacy or consumer fine against Likee anywhere.

Security

We found no reported breach of Likee user data, and JOYY's 2025 annual report lists no material cybersecurity incident. The policy is thin on detail: it promises encryption for "certain" personal information in transit and firewalls, and says nothing about encryption of messages. We found no public bug bounty for Likee on HackerOne, and no security.txt contact file on its website.

How to use Likee more safely

1. Refuse the contacts permission, and say no if the app asks to read your installed apps.
2. Turn off targeted ads under Ads in Likee's settings, and refuse tracking on iPhone.
3. Ignore messages from people you do not know, and do not move chats to other apps when a streamer asks.
4. Put a spending limit on Apple or Google before buying diamonds for gifts; gifts cannot be undone.
5. For a teenager, use the store's parental controls and talk about gifts and messages from strangers.

How we scored it

Scams and harmful content (35) and privacy (35) are the weakest factors: teen users meet gift-paid live streams, and the app collects device IDs, contacts and installed apps. Regulatory record (60) reflects the India block of 2020 without any fine. Security (48) is middling, with no known breach but little public detail. For a short-video app with more public safety data, compare TikTok.