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Terms of use

Meta

Meta Terms of Service

F

Risk score

74of 100

Open the original (new tab)Company page

In short

  • These terms govern your use of Facebook, Messenger, and other Meta products.
  • You allow Meta to show you personalized ads by using your personal data, though they state they do not sell your direct identity info.
  • If you disagree with these rules or any future updates, you must delete your account.

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 based on your 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 broad license to use your content worldwide.

    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 Meta can change the terms with 30 days notice.

    This product

    “We will notify you ... at least 30 days before we make changes to these Terms and give you an opportunity to review them before they go into effect”

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

Tracking you across apps

You are agreeing to let Meta track your behavior on and off their services for ad targeting.

“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 activity across many websites and apps is used to target ads to you.

Meta collects data from both inside and outside its own apps to build a profile of your interests for advertising.

High cost

Broad license to user content

You are agreeing to give Meta broad, permanent rights to use your creative work.

“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 you might not expect, including sharing those rights with third parties.

The license is sub-licensable and transferable, meaning Meta can pass these rights to others or sell the business without losing the right to use your content.

High cost

Liability shifted onto the user

You are agreeing to hold Meta largely harmless for most damages related to their service.

“we also DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED... To the fullest extent permitted by law under no circumstance will we be liable to you for any lost profits, revenues, information, or data...”

What that means: If Meta loses your data or fails to provide service, you have limited legal recourse for compensation.

Meta provides its service 'as is' and broadly limits its financial liability for any damages, including loss of data.

High cost

Terms follow you to parks, stores, and other products

You are agreeing to data flow and consistent experiences across all Meta brand products.

“We provide a personalized experience... to help discover content... on and off Meta Company Products”

What that means: Using one app connects your profile to others in the Meta ecosystem.

The terms explicitly cover data usage and ad targeting across various Meta-owned platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp via shared infrastructure.

Medium cost

Difficult or incomplete deletion

You are agreeing to wait up to 180 days total for complete data removal from all systems.

“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 persists longer than visible deletion suggests, limiting true privacy control.

Even after you request deletion, data remains in backup systems for extended periods and cannot be immediately scrubbed.

Lower cost

Children’s data

You are agreeing to adhere to age restrictions for the platform.

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

What that means: Users under 13 are barred from using the core service.

The document clearly restricts use by children under 13, complying with COPPA.

Lower cost

Data sold or shared with third parties

You are agreeing to a model where your identity is not directly sold, but your interests are used.

“We don’t sell your personal data to advertisers, and we don’t share information that directly identifies you... unless you give us specific permission.”

What that means: Your direct identity is protected from being sold to ad networks.

The company explicitly states it does not sell PII to advertisers.

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.