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Terms of use

Meta

Meta Terms of Service

C

Risk score

49of 100

Open the original (new tab)Company page

In short

  • This document governs your use of Facebook, Messenger, and other Meta products.
  • You pay nothing directly but agree to see personalized ads based on your data.
  • The terms grant Meta broad rights to your content and limit their liability for service issues or third-party actions.

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 that Meta can show you personalized ads using your personal data.

    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.”
  2. 02

    You are agreeing to give Meta a worldwide license to use, copy, and share your content.

    Other products, stores, or brands

    “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”
  3. 03

    You are agreeing that disputes will be resolved in California courts or local courts if you are a consumer.

    This product

    “If you are a consumer... the laws of the country in which you reside will apply... and you may resolve your claim in any competent court in that country”

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 wide permission to use and share your content with others.

“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: Your photos and videos can be used by Meta’s partners and service providers even after you upload them.

Meta takes a broad, perpetual, and sublicensable right to your content. This allows them to share your posts with partners and service providers, not just store them.

High cost

Liability shifted onto the user

You are agreeing to accept the service 'as is' without warranties and without holding Meta liable for many types of damages.

“Our Products, however, are provided 'as is,'... we DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES... nor will we be liable to you for any lost profits, revenues, information, or data”

What that means: If the service fails or causes data loss, you cannot easily sue for financial losses.

The company provides no guarantees about safety or function. They waive responsibility for damages like lost data or income resulting from service issues.

Medium cost

Difficult or incomplete deletion

You are agreeing to wait up to 180 days total for all traces of your content to be fully removed from backups.

“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 lingers in backup systems for up to three months after you ask for it to be gone.

Account deletion does not instantly erase everything. Data remains in backup systems for a significant period after you request removal.

Medium cost

Tracking you across apps

You are agreeing to let Meta track your activity on and off their sites to personalize your feed.

“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 activity outside of Facebook helps shape what you see inside the app.

The terms explicitly state that Meta uses data collected both on and off their platform to tailor your experience.

Lower cost

Children’s data

You are agreeing that users must be at least 13 years old to create an account.

“You cannot use Facebook if: You are under 13 years old.”

What that means: Children under 13 are prohibited from using the service.

The terms clearly restrict users under 13. This is a standard compliance clause rather than a hidden risk.

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.