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Terms of use

Meta

Meta Terms of Service

D

Risk score

54of 100

Open the original (new tab)Company page

In short

  • This document sets the rules for using Facebook and related Meta services.
  • It gives Meta broad rights to use your content, track your data for ads, and change terms with limited notice.
  • It also limits Meta's liability for service issues and restricts your ability to delete data quickly.

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, perpetual license to use, copy, and share any photos or videos you upload.

    This product

    “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”
  2. 02

    You are agreeing that Meta can show you personalized ads based on your personal data without selling that data directly.

    This product

    “By using our Products, you agree that we can show you ads that we think may be relevant to you and your interests. We use your personal data to help determine which personalized ads to show you.”
  3. 03

    You are agreeing to let Meta remove content or disable your account if it violates their standards or laws.

    This product

    “If we determine, in our discretion, that you have clearly, seriously or repeatedly breached our Terms or Policies... we may suspend or permanently disable your access to Meta Company Products”

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 allow Meta to use, share, and modify your uploaded content without paying you.

“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: You lose control over how your photos and videos are used, shared, or modified by Meta or its partners.

Meta receives a very broad license that allows them to sublicense and modify your content globally, even after you stop using the service for specific instances.

High cost

Tracking you across apps

You are agreeing to have your activity tracked across websites and apps to tailor advertisements.

“We use data about the connections you make, the choices and settings you select, and what you share and do on and off our Products - to personalize your experience.”

What that means: Your online behavior across different sites is collected to build a profile for advertising purposes.

The terms explicitly state that Meta tracks your activity both on their products and on other websites (

Medium cost

Indefinite retention

You are agreeing to wait up to 90 days for your data to be fully purged from backup systems after deletion.

“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 remains on Meta's servers for weeks after you ask for it to be removed, preventing immediate erasure.

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

Medium cost

Unilateral changes with little or no notice

You are agreeing to accept future changes to the terms simply by continuing to use the platform.

“We will notify you... 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 may be forced to accept new rules or leave the service entirely if you disagree with updates.

Meta can change the terms with 30 days' notice, and continued use counts as agreement to the new terms.

Medium cost

Difficult or incomplete deletion

You are agreeing that closing your account will not delete all the content you have created or managed.

“Account deletion does not automatically delete content that you post as an admin of a page or content that you create collectively with other users...”

What that means: Some of your data remains visible to others even after you close your account.

Deleting your main account does not guarantee the removal of all associated content, especially collaborative posts or page admin duties.

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.