Meta

You are agreeing to allow Meta to track your activity on third-party sites and apps and combine it with your Meta account data.

“Receiving and using information from third parties to tailor the ads you see: We’ll use information that advertisers, businesses and other partners provide us about activity off the Meta Company Products that we have associated with you to personalize ads that we show you on our Products, and on websites, apps and devices that use our advertising services.”

What that means: You will see ads based on your browsing history and activity on external sites, allowing companies to follow you around the internet.

Meta tracks users across third-party websites and apps to build profiles for advertising, even if the user is not logged into a Meta product at that moment.

You are agreeing to indefinite data retention determined solely by Meta's needs and legal obligations.

“We keep information as long as we need it to provide our Products, comply with legal obligations or protect our or other’s interests. We decide how long we need information on a case-by-case basis.”

What that means: Your data may remain stored in Meta's systems indefinitely, even after you delete visible content, if they deem it necessary for their operations.

Meta retains data indefinitely based on their internal determination of 'legitimate interests' rather than a fixed timeline, which includes protecting their rights and property.

You are agreeing that this privacy policy applies to all Meta Company Products, including WhatsApp and other affiliated services.

“We are part of the Meta Companies that provide Meta Company Products. Meta Company Products include all the Meta Products covered by this Policy, plus other products like WhatsApp and more.”

What that means: Your activity on one platform (like Instagram) can be linked to another (like WhatsApp), consolidating your digital identity across all Meta services.

The policy covers a wide range of Meta-owned products beyond just Facebook, including WhatsApp, creating a unified ecosystem of data sharing.

You are agreeing to let Meta process sensitive personal information if you voluntarily share it or participate in specific surveys.

“Any information with special protections that you choose to provide, such as your religious views, your sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs or trade union membership, or as part of surveys you choose to participate in, or where you have given your explicit consent”

What that means: If you share these details, Meta processes them to improve features and analytics, though they claim not to use them for ad targeting directly.

The policy explicitly lists sensitive categories like health, political views, and sexual orientation as data they may process if the user chooses to provide it.

You are agreeing to share your information with advertisers and publishers in the Meta Audience Network to display personalized ads.

“When we show you ads through Meta Audience Network when you visit other apps, our systems automatically process the information we have collected and stored about you and others to identify you as a Meta Product user and tailor the ads you see.”

What that means: Advertisers gain access to your profile and activity data to target you specifically, functioning similarly to a sale of audience insights.

While Meta states they do not sell personal data to brokers, they share data with advertisers and publishers via the Audience Network to serve targeted ads, effectively commercializing user attention and data access.