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Terms of use

Meta

Meta Terms of Service

D

Risk score

70of 100

In short

  • This document sets the rules for using Facebook, Messenger, and other Meta products.
  • You agree to let Meta use your personal data to show you personalized ads and to grant them a broad license to use any content you share.
  • Meta can change these terms with 30 days' notice and keeps your account data for up to 90 days after deletion requests.

What you accept

If you tap Agree

Everyday words for the material promises and rights you give up. Each line includes a quote from the document.

  1. 01

    You are agreeing to give Meta a worldwide, sub-licensable license to your user content.

    Other products, stores, or brands

    “when you share, post, or upload content that is covered by intellectual property rights on or in connection with our Products, you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, and worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content”

What it can cost you

Downsides we could quote

Quoted clauses that can affect your privacy, money, or right to go to court — including terms that follow you to other products.

Highest-cost clauses first

High cost

Broad license to user content

You are agreeing to give Meta a permanent, global right to use and share your creative content.

“you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, and worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content”

What that means: Meta can use your photos and videos in ways that go beyond just showing them to your friends, potentially giving those rights to partners.

The contract grants Meta a very broad legal right to use, modify, and share anything you post, including allowing them to sublicense those rights to other companies.

High cost

Tracking you across apps

You are agreeing to allow Meta to track your activity and interests to serve you targeted advertisements.

“We use your personal data, such as information about your activity and interests, to show you personalized ads and sponsored content that may be more relevant to you.”

What that means: Your online activity is used to build a profile of your interests for advertising purposes.

The terms explicitly state that Meta uses your personal data and activity to determine which ads to show you, which involves tracking your behavior on their platform.

Medium cost

Third parties handle data you submit

You are agreeing to let Meta share your data with its affiliated companies for safety and security reasons.

“we share data across Meta Companies when we detect misuse or harmful conduct by someone using one of our Products or to help keep Meta Products, users and the community safe.”

What that means: Your data may be shared with other companies in the Meta family for monitoring and safety checks.

The contract allows Meta to share your data with its affiliated companies (Meta Companies) for safety and security investigations.

Medium cost

Difficult or incomplete deletion

You are agreeing that content removal from backups and disaster recovery systems can take up to 90 days.

“After the content is deleted, it may take us up to another 90 days to remove it from backups and disaster recovery systems.”

What that means: Your data will still exist in Meta's backup systems for weeks after you think it is gone.

Even after you request deletion, Meta retains your content in backup systems for an additional period of time.

Medium cost

Records kept for years

You are agreeing to a retention period of up to 90 days for deletion processing and another 90 days for backup cleanup.

“It may take up to 90 days to delete content after we begin the account deletion process or receive a content deletion request. ... After the content is deleted, it may take us up to another 90 days to remove it from backups and disaster recovery systems.”

What that means: You must wait up to 180 days total for your data to be fully removed from active and backup systems.

The document explicitly states a specific timeframe (90 days) for both initial deletion and subsequent backup removal.

Medium cost

Liability shifted onto the user

You are agreeing that Meta disclaims all warranties and limits its liability for any damages or losses arising from using the service.

“Our Products, however, are provided "as is," and to the extent permissible by law, we make no guarantees that they always will be safe, secure, or error-free... DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES...”

What that means: If the service fails, has security issues, or causes problems, Meta is not legally responsible under these terms.

Meta provides its services 'as is' without warranties regarding safety, security, or functionality, limiting its liability for damages.

Medium cost

Unilateral changes with little or no notice

You are agreeing to accept future changes to these Terms if you continue to use the products after receiving notice.

“We will notify you (for example, by email or through our Products) at least 30 days before we make changes to these Terms... Once any updated Terms are in effect, you will be bound by them if you continue to access or use our Products.”

What that means: You are bound by new rules simply by keeping your account open after Meta gives notice of changes.

Meta can change the terms and policies with 30 days' notice, and your continued use of the service counts as acceptance of those changes.

People also accept these terms in

The same company terms often apply on these apps or devices. This is a lookup aid, not a claim we caught this company.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Whatsapp
  • Meta Quest
  • Oculus

If these terms already apply to you

Keep this list. Fineprint cannot undo or cancel something you already agreed to at the company.

We cannot see Agree on their site. With Premium, tap “I accepted these terms” if you already agreed to what Meta asks.