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Terms of use

Meta

Meta Terms of Service

D

Risk score

61of 100

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In short

  • Meta Terms of Service governs your use of Facebook, Messenger, and other Meta Products.
  • You agree to allow Meta to use personalized ads based on your data, grant a broad license to your content, and limit their liability for service issues or disruptions.

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 let Meta show you personalized ads based on 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 grant Meta a worldwide, sublicensable license to your 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”
  3. 03

    You are agreeing to hold Meta harmless from most claims related to the service.

    This product

    “We do not control or direct what people and others do or say, and we are not responsible for their actions or conduct (whether online or offline) or any content they share”

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 broad rights to use and share your content across all Meta 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 that means: Your photos, videos, and text can be used by Meta and its partners in ways you might not expect, and you cannot easily revoke these rights once granted.

The terms give Meta extensive rights to use, modify, and share your content with third parties, including subsidiaries like Instagram, even if you delete it locally.

High cost

Difficult or incomplete deletion

You are agreeing to wait up to 90 days for full deletion and understand your data may remain in backups longer.

“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 cannot guarantee immediate or complete removal of your data from all of Meta's systems.

Even after you request deletion, your data remains in backup systems for up to 90 days, and content shared with others may persist if they don't delete it.

High cost

Liability shifted onto the user

You are agreeing to accept the service 'as is' with very limited legal recourse against Meta.

“Our Products, however, are provided "as is," and we make no guarantees that they always will be safe, secure, or error-free... Our aggregate liability... will not exceed the greater of $100 or the amount you have paid us in the past twelve months.”

What that means: If Meta's service causes you significant loss or harm, you likely cannot recover more than $100 in compensation.

Meta disclaims all warranties and limits its financial liability for any damages you suffer from using the service to a very small amount ($100).

Medium cost

Tracking you across apps

You are agreeing to let Meta track your behavior on and off their sites to customize ads and content.

“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 activities outside of Facebook and Messenger are tracked and used to influence what you see.

Meta collects data on your activity both on and off their platforms to build detailed profiles for ad targeting.

Medium cost

Indefinite retention

You are agreeing to keep your data retained as long as others use it.

“Content will not be deleted within 90 days... where your content has been used by others in accordance with this license and they have not deleted it”

What that means: Your data stays with Meta longer than you might want if others interact with it.

Meta retains your content indefinitely if other users continue to use it, overriding your deletion requests.

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.