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Terms of use

Meta

Meta Terms of Service

C

Risk score

41of 100

Open the original (new tab)Company page

In short

  • This agreement grants Meta broad rights to your uploaded photos and videos, requiring you to share specific personal data so they can show you personalized ads.
  • It also limits how you can pursue legal action if something goes wrong with the service and allows them to change these rules with 30 days' notice.

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 wide license to copy, store, and share your content across their products like Instagram and Messenger.

    Other products, stores, or brands

    “you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, and worldwide license... consistent with your privacy and application settings”
  2. 02

    You are agreeing to let Meta use your name and profile picture in advertisements without paying you.

    This product

    “You give us permission to use your name and profile picture and information about actions you have taken on Facebook next to or in connection with ads... without any compensation to you”
  3. 03

    You are agreeing that Meta will handle your data through their global network of data centers and partners worldwide.

    Other companies

    “we need to transfer, store and distribute content and data to our data centers, partners, service providers, vendors and systems around the world, including outside your country of residence”

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 grant Meta extensive permissions to use, modify, and share your content globally.

“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 exclusive control over how your photos and videos are used and shared by Meta's entire ecosystem.

The terms take a very broad license to user content, allowing Meta to modify and sublicense it across all affiliated products.

High cost

Tracking you across apps

You are agreeing to allow Meta to track your activity on and off their products for ad targeting.

“We use your personal data to help determine which personalized ads to show you... 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 behavior across multiple websites and apps is monitored to target you with specific ads.

Meta tracks activity both on and off their platforms to build detailed profiles for advertising purposes.

Medium cost

Difficult or incomplete deletion

You are agreeing to a delayed removal process where data persists in backups for up to 180 days total.

“it may take us up to another 90 days to remove it from backups and disaster recovery systems”

What that means: Your data remains recoverable and accessible within Meta's systems for a significant period even after you delete it.

Full deletion of data from backup systems can take up to an additional 90 days after the initial request.

Lower cost

Unilateral changes with little or no notice

You are agreeing to be bound by future changes to the terms if you choose to keep using the service.

“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 must stay informed of changes, as continued use constitutes acceptance of new rules.

Meta reserves the right to update the terms, binding continuing users to the new agreement after providing 30 days' notice.

Where this can follow you

Names that appear in this document for other apps, parks, stores, or brands. A click here can be used there.

  • Stores

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.