What is the Privacy Policy and what does it cover?Effective from 15 June 2023 Highlights- This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use and share your information. It also describes how long we keep your information for and how we keep it safe when we transfer it.
- The Privacy Policy also lets you know your rights
- This policy applies to what we call Meta Products, or Products. Our Products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Portal.
- It also applies to Meta Quest if you log in with a Facebook or Meta account
We at Meta want you to understand what information we collect, and how we use and share it. That's why we encourage you to read our Privacy Policy. This helps you use Meta Products[1] in the way that's right for you. In the Privacy Policy, we explain how we collect, use, share, retain and transfer information. We also let you know your rights. Each section of the Policy includes helpful examples and simpler language to make our practices easier to understand. We've also added links to resources where you can learn more about the privacy topics that interest you. It's important to us that you know how to control your privacy, so we also show you where you can manage your information in the settings of the Meta Products you use. You can update these settings to shape your experience. Read the full policy below. 1 What products does this policy cover?This policy describes the information that we, Meta Platforms, Inc., process to provide Meta Products. Meta Products, which we also call "products", include: - Facebook
- Messenger
- Instagram (including apps such as Boomerang and Threads)
- Facebook Portal products
- Meta Platforms Technologies Products, such as Meta Horizon Worlds or Meta Quest (when using a Facebook or Meta account)
- Shops
- Marketplace
- Spark AR
- Meta Business Tools
- Meta Audience Network
- Facebook View
- Meta Pay
- Meta checkout experiences
Some of our products also have a supplemental privacy policy[2] that adds to the information provided in this policy.  How do we use your information?HighlightsHere are some of the ways we use your information: - We personalise your experience, for instance by suggesting reels to watch or communities to join
- We improve our Products by applying information about what you use them to do, and what else is happening on your device when our app crashes
- We work to prevent harmful behaviour and keep people safe on our Products
- We send you messages about the Products that you use or ones you might like, if you let us
- We research for the good of people around the world, for instance to advance technology or to help out in a crisis
We use information we collect to provide a personalised experience to you, including ads, along with the other purposes that we explain in detail below. For some of these purposes, we use information across our products[28] and across your devices[29]. The information that we use for these purposes is automatically processed by our systems. But in some cases, we also use manual review[30] to access and review your information. To use less information that's connected to individual users, in some cases we de-identify or aggregate information or anonymise it so that it no longer identifies you. We use this information in the same ways we use your information as described in this section. Here are the ways we use your information: To provide, personalise and improve our productsWe use information we have to provide and improve our Products[31]. This includes personalising features, content and recommendations, such as your Facebook Feed[32], Instagram feed, Stories and ads. We use information with special protections that you choose to provide for these purposes, but not to show you ads. Read more about how we use information to provide, personalise and improve our products: How we show ads and other sponsored or commercial contentWhen you use our products, you see ads and sponsored or commercial content, such as product listings in Shops. You also see ads shown through Meta Audience Network when you visit other apps. We want everything you see to be interesting and useful to you. To decide what to show you and others, we use information that we have about you, including: - Your profile information
- Your activity on and off our products, including information that we receive through cookies and similar technologies, according to your settings
- Content that you create or interact with across Facebook and Instagram
- Things we infer about you, such as topics that we think you may be interested in
- Information about your friends, followers or other connections, including their activity or interests
See some examples.[33] Learn more about some of the ways we show you ads that we think may be interesting to you, including using machine learning. Take controlManage ad preferencesHow we use information to improve our productsWe're always trying to make our products better and create new ones with the features you want. Information we collect from you helps us learn how. We use information we collect to: - See if a product is working correctly
- Troubleshoot and fix it when it's not
- Try out new products and features to see if they work
- Get feedback on our ideas for products or features
- Conduct surveys and other research about what you like about our Products and brands, and what we can do better
How we use location-related informationWe use location-related information that you allow us to receive if you turn on the Location Services device setting. This includes things such as your GPS location and, depending on the operating system you're using, other device signals[34]. We also receive and use some location-related information even if location services is turned off. This includes: - IP addresses[35], which we use to estimate your general location. We can use IP addresses to estimate your specific location if it's necessary to protect the safety and security of you or others.
- Your and others' activity on our products, such as check-ins and events
- Information that you give us directly, such as if you enter your current city on your profile, or provide your address in Marketplace
We use location-related information, such as your current location, where you live, the places you like to go and the businesses and people you're near, to do the things described in the "How do we use your information?" section of the Policy, such as: - Provide, personalise and improve our products, including ads, for you and others. See an example[36].
- Detect suspicious activity and help keep your account secure. Learn how.[37]
Take controlManage location settingsTo promote safety, security and integrityWe use the information we collect to help protect people from harm and provide safe, secure products. Learn moreTo provide measurement, analytics and business servicesLots of people rely on our products to run or promote their businesses. We help them measure how well their ads and other content, products and services are working. Learn moreTo communicate with youWe communicate with you using information you've given us, such as contact information you've entered on your profile. Learn moreTo research and innovate for social goodWe use information we have, information from researchers and datasets from publicly available sources, professional groups and charitable groups to conduct and support research. Learn morePromoting safety, security and integrityHere are some ways that we promote safety, security and integrity. We work to: - Verify accounts and activity
- Find and address violations of our terms or policies. In some cases, the decisions we make about violations are reviewed by the Oversight Board. They may use the information we have when they review our decisions. Learn more about how the Oversight Board processes information.
- Investigate suspicious activity
- Detect, prevent and combat harmful or unlawful behaviour
- Detect and prevent spam and other bad experiences
- Detect when someone needs help and provide support
- Detect and stop threats to our personnel and property
- Maintain the integrity of our products
Learn more about how we work to keep Meta a safe place for everyone. Providing measurement, analytics and business servicesTo provide measurement and analytics services, we use the information we collect about you across your accounts on our products. Our measurement and analytics services help our partners[38] understand things such as: - How many people see and interact with their products, services or content, including posts, videos, Facebook Pages, listings, Shops and ads (including those shown through apps using Meta Audience Network)
- How people interact with their content, websites, apps and services
- What types of people[39] interact with their content or use their services
- How people use our partners' products and services to connect to Meta Products, the performance of their connection and networks and users' experience with them
We also use the information that we collect to provide business services. More in the Privacy PolicyCommunicating with youWe communicate with you in a few different ways. For example: - We send messages about the products that we know you use, using the email address that you register to your account
- Depending on your settings, we send marketing communications about products that you might like
- We ask you to participate in research based on things such as how you use our products
- We let you know about our policies and terms of service
- When you contact us with any questions, we reply to your email
- We facilitate customer support communications with you when you've told us, either directly or through a third party[40], that you have questions or concerns about our Products
Take controlResearching and innovating for social good We research and innovate to help people around the world. Our goals include: - Contributing to social good and areas of public interest
- Advancing technology
- Improving safety, health and well-being
Here are some examples of our research: - We analyse information about where groups of people go during crises. This helps relief organisations get aid to the right places.
- We work with independent researchers to better understand the impact that social media might have on elections and democratic processes
- We've collaborated with academics and industry experts to help improve Internet access and quality in rural areas
- We support research in areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to do things such as create COVID-19 forecasting models
Learn more about our research programmes 29 Why we use information across devicesOne reason why we use your information across devices[43] is to help us give you a more personalised experience. For example, we might show you an ad on your phone, and later you might use your laptop to click on the ad and buy the product. By combining that information across your devices, we can understand what ads are relevant to you and help businesses measure how well their ad performed. 30 Manual reviewExamples of when we use manual review- Our reviewers help us promote safety, security and integrity across our products. For example, reviewers can look for and remove content that violates our terms and policies, and keep content that doesn't break our terms and policies available. Their work supplements our technology that detects violations.
- When our algorithms detect that someone might need help, a reviewer can review their post and offer support if needed.
- We also use manual review to analyse content to train our algorithms to review content the same way a person would. This improves our automatic processing, which in turn helps us improve our products.
Who reviews this informationOur reviewers work at Meta, for Meta Companies or for a trusted service provider[44]. We require every reviewer who's allowed access to your information to meet privacy and security standards. Learn more about how Meta prioritises content for manual review. 31 What products does this policy cover?This policy describes the information that we, Meta Platforms, Inc., process to provide Meta Products. Meta Products, which we also call "products", include: - Facebook
- Messenger
- Instagram (including apps such as Boomerang and Threads)
- Facebook Portal products
- Meta Platforms Technologies Products, such as Meta Horizon Worlds or Meta Quest (when using a Facebook or Meta account)
- Shops
- Marketplace
- Spark AR
- Meta Business Tools
- Meta Audience Network
- Facebook View
- Meta Pay
- Meta checkout experiences
Some of our products also have a supplemental privacy policy[45] that adds to the information provided in this policy. 32 How we personalise your Facebook FeedYour Facebook Feed is unique to you. We order (or "rank") the content that you can see in your Feed, and you can learn more about the different types of signals we use to rank it. We also suggest content that's relevant to you. Many things influence the content that you see in your Feed. For example: - If your friends, connections or people you may know interact with a Facebook Page, post or certain topic, we can suggest similar content to you. So if your friend Ahmad comments on a post about national parks, we can suggest the national parks post to you.
- If you and others interact with the same group, Facebook Page or post, we can suggest another group, Page or post that they interact with for you. So if you and Sharmila are in the same cat lovers group and Sharmila likes a Page that sells scarves, we might suggest the scarves Page to you.
- If you've recently engaged with a certain topic on Facebook, we might then suggest other posts that are related to that topic. So if you recently liked or commented on a post from a basketball Page, we could suggest other posts about basketball.
- You might see posts based on where you are and what people near you are interacting with on Facebook. So if you're near a sports stadium, we can suggest games or events occurring at the stadium. Learn more about how we use location-related information.
Take controlManage Facebook Feed33 Your activity on our productsFor example, William checks in to a local bakery on Facebook, so later we might show him ads on Instagram for other local bakeries. Your activity on third-party websites and apps, depending on your settingsFor example, Jane buys a pair of shoes from an online shoe shop or in an online chat with a shoe seller. The seller shares Jane's activity with us using our business tools, subject to our Business Tools Terms. Later, Jane sees an ad on Instagram for a discount on her next shoe purchase from the online shop. If she doesn't want to see ads from this shoe shop again, she can hide them in her Advertisers setting. Or if she doesn't want us to show her any ads based on her activity on other websites and apps, she can make sure that this setting is turned off in her ad preferences. Topics we think you might be interested inFor example, Jon likes several Facebook Pages about famous musicians, so we think he has an interest in "music". Based on this interest, we might show him an ad for a local record shop or an online music publication. Jon can manage his interests in his ad topics. Your connectionsFor example, Fiona's friend likes an Instagram account for a local art fair. Based on her friend's activity, we might show Fiona an ad for the art fair. 34 Other device signals we receiveWe receive different types of device signals from different operating systems. They include things such as nearby Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connections. 35 IP addressStands for "Internet protocol address". It's a unique number assigned to a device, such as a phone or computer, which allows it to communicate over the Internet. Numbers are assigned according to standard guidelines, or protocols. Just like you need a postal address to receive a letter from a friend, your device needs an IP address to receive information on the Internet. 36 Personalising ads for you and othersFor example, Marcus is going on a trip and wants to use Find Wi-Fi to find free, public Wi-Fi at the airport. He has turned on Location services on his device and allowed location access in the Facebook app, so we can use his GPS information to help him find the most relevant public Wi-Fi networks. We'll also use this information to show him ads for local businesses near the airport. Later, Marcus turns off Location services before he lands, so we don't collect his GPS information anymore. Later on his trip, he opens the Facebook app, and we can use the IP address that we receive to estimate Marcus' general location and show him ads for businesses nearby. 37 Helping to keep your account secureFor example, we use information about the locations that you normally log in from, combined with other information, to detect suspicious activity. So if we detect an attempt to log in to your account from a new location, we can check that it's really you. 38 PartnerA person, business, organisation or body using or integrating our Products to advertise, market or support their products and services 39 Information we provide about different types of peopleFor example, we might tell an advertiser that their ad was seen by women aged 25-34 who live in Madrid and like software engineering. 40 Third partyA person, business, organisation or body that is not part of the Meta Companies 41 Providing more personalised features, content and suggestions across our productsFor example we can: - Automatically fill in registration information, such as your phone number, from one Meta Product when you sign up for an account on a different Product
- Let others see and search your name and profile photo across our products and communicate with you
- Show all interactions in one place for content you've crossposted to different products
42 Using your information if you add accounts to the same Accounts CentreFor example, if you follow your favourite team on Instagram, we can more easily suggest that you follow that team's Page on Facebook. Learn more about how we use information across accounts if you add accounts to the same Accounts Centre. 43 DeviceDevices include computers, phones, hardware, connected TVs, Portal devices and other web-connected devices. 44 Service providerA person, business, organisation or body that provides services to Meta or to our users on behalf of Meta. For example, our service providers do things such as investigate suspicious activity and provide customer support. How do we share information with third parties?HighlightsWe share certain information with: - Advertisers who show ads on our Products
- Businesses we hire to market our Products for us
- Businesses we hire to do things such as offer customer service or conduct surveys
- Researchers who use it to do things such as innovate, advance technology or improve people's safety
We don't sell your information and we never will. We don't sell any of your information to anyone and we never will. We also require partners[53] and other third parties[54] to follow rules about how they can and cannot use and disclose the information that we provide. Here's more detail about who we share information with: PartnersAdvertisers and Audience Network publishersAdvertisersWe provide advertisers with reports about the number and kinds of people who see and engage with their ads. These reports include information about the general demographics and interests of people who engaged with an advertiser's ad. Then advertisers can better understand their audience. See an example[55]. Meta also provides advertisers and their vendors with information about: - Ads that people engaged with, if any
- When people engaged with ads
- Where that ad was shown (e.g. on Instagram or Facebook)
We also confirm which ads you viewed that led you to take an action with an advertiser, such as downloading an advertiser's app. But we don't share information with these advertisers and their vendors that by itself can be used to contact or identify you, such as your name or email address, unless you give us permission.[56] Audience Network publishers and their vendorsMeta Audience Network lets advertisers place ads with us that will be published on other apps and websites outside of Meta. To help show you ads on their apps and websites, we share information with publishers who use Audience Network, as well as vendors who facilitate that use. For example, we share: - How many people see and engage with ads on publisher apps
- Information related to or in response to a publisher's request to serve an ad on its app.
But we don't share information with these publishers and their vendors that by itself can be used to contact or identify you, such as your name or email address, unless you give us permission[56]. Partners who use our analytics servicesPeople rely on our Products[57], such as business accounts, professional tools and Facebook Pages, to run and promote their businesses. Businesses use our analytics services to understand more about how people are using their content, features, products and services. To provide these services, we use the information that we collect about you. We put this information into aggregate reports so that partners can see how well their content, features, products and services are performing and are able to understand things like users' experience with such content, products and services. These reports aggregate information such as: - How many people interacted with our partners' content, products or services
- The general demographics and interests[55] of the people who interacted with it
- How people use our partners' products and services to connect to Meta Products and the performance of their connection and networks
Advertisers also receive other information. Read our policy about how we share information with advertisers. Partners who offer goods or services on our products and commerce services platformsWhen you choose to make a transaction[58], or otherwise choose to share information with a seller, creator, fundraiser, charity, payment services provider or commerce services platform[59], we share information with them and with any providers acting on their behalf. Depending on how you interact with them, they receive: - Information to complete your transaction, such as order, payment, contact and delivery information
- Information to help ensure the security of the transaction, such as information about your device or connection
- Any information required by applicable regulation
- Other information that you choose to share with them
For example, if you make a purchase from an Instagram shop using checkout, the shop will receive information to complete your transaction. This may include your order items, your contact details and delivery information. If the shop uses a payment services provider, such as PayPal, to facilitate the transaction, the provider will receive the transaction amount, a transaction description (to appear on your credit card statement) and your payment card information, such as cardholder name, card number, expiry date and billing address. Learn more about payments on Instagram. Integrated partnersWhen you choose to use integrated partners' products or services, they may receive information about you and your activity. Read the policy. VendorsMeasurement vendorsWe don't create every measurement and analytics report ourselves. We share information (such as whether people saw an ad or engaged with it) with our measurement vendors[60], who aggregate it to provide their reports. For example, an advertiser might ask a measurement vendor to help work out the impact that its ads on Facebook have had on sales. The measurement vendor compares information from us about clicks on the advertiser's Facebook ads with information from the advertiser about product purchases. Then the measurement vendor creates and provides aggregated reports that show the advertiser how its ads are performing. Marketing vendorsWe share information about you with marketing vendors[61]. For example, we share your device identifier or other identifiers with marketing vendors to help us serve you ads most relevant to your interests. Marketing vendors support our marketing and advertising efforts by: - Serving our advertisements across the internet, including on mobile, desktop and connected television devices
- Tracking and categorising your online and mobile app activity
- Providing us information about your interests and community and advertising interactions
These marketing vendors help us understand who might find our advertising most relevant to their interests, and which of our Products might interest you. This information can be used to personalise which of our ads are shown to you. Marketing vendors also use this information to measure response to our marketing efforts and the effectiveness of our advertising. Service providersThird partiesExternal researchersWe provide information to external researchers. They use it to conduct research that advances scholarship and innovation, and to promote safety, security and integrity. Research goals include supporting: - Our business or mission
- Social good. Learn more.
- Technological advancement
- Safety and security on our products
- Public interest
- Health and well-being
When sharing information with external researchers, we ensure that the privacy of our users is protected. Learn more about the privacy-safe research that we support. Other third partiesWe also share information with other third parties[54] in response to legal requests, to comply with applicable law or to prevent harm. Read the policy. And if we sell or transfer all or part of our business to someone else, in some cases we'll give the new owner your information as part of that transaction, but only as the law allows. 53 PartnerA person, business, organisation or body using or integrating our Products to advertise, market or support their products and services 54 Third partyA person, business, organisation or body that is not part of the Meta Companies 55 General demographics and interestsFor example, a bike shop creates a Page on Facebook and wants to place an ad to reach an audience of people in Atlanta interested in cycling. We determine whether someone fits in this audience based on, for example, whether they liked a Page about bikes. Then people in that audience could see the bike shop's ad. You can see the "interests" assigned to you in your ad preferences and remove them if you want. The bike shop can then see reports showing aggregated statistics about the audience seeing their ads and how their ads are performing. The reports would show statistics to the advertiser that, for example, most of the people who saw or clicked on their ad: - Were women
- Were between the ages of 25 and 34
- Clicked on the ad from their phone
56 When you might give us permissionFor example, you might request more information from a business by clicking their ad in your Facebook Feed and submitting a form with your name and contact information. Then the advertiser would receive the information that you provided. 57 What products does this policy cover?This policy describes the information that we, Meta Platforms, Inc., process to provide Meta Products. Meta Products, which we also call "products", include: - Facebook
- Messenger
- Instagram (including apps such as Boomerang and Threads)
- Facebook Portal products
- Meta Platforms Technologies Products, such as Meta Horizon Worlds or Meta Quest (when using a Facebook or Meta account)
- Shops
- Marketplace
- Spark AR
- Meta Business Tools
- Meta Audience Network
- Facebook View
- Meta Pay
- Meta checkout experiences
Some of our products also have a supplemental privacy policy[62] that adds to the information provided in this policy. 58 Transactions you might make- Subscribing to premium content
- Buying, selling or using products
- Buying, selling or using services
- Donating to charities
59 Commerce services platformsCommerce services platforms provide a range of commerce services, including: - Payments
- Marketing
- Delivery
- Customer engagement tools
60 Measurement vendorA third party that creates reports to help advertisers understand how their content and ads are performing. These reports also measure whether people took an action after seeing an ad. 61 Marketing vendorA third party that helps market or advertise Meta and our Products, measures the effectiveness of our own marketing campaigns and performs advertising research How can you manage or delete your information and exercise your rights?Highlights- You have rights to view and download the information that we have about you
- You can use the settings in this section to manage your privacy
- You also can delete your account or specific account information, if you want to
We offer you a variety of tools to view, manage, download and delete your information below. You can also manage your information by visiting the settings of the Products you use. You may also have other privacy rights under applicable laws. To exercise your rights, visit our Help Centres, your settings for Facebook and Instagram and your device-based settings. View and manage your informationPort, download or delete your informationYou can learn more about how privacy works on Facebook and on Instagram, and in the Facebook Help Centre. If you have any questions about this policy, you can contact us as described below. In some countries, you may also be able to contact the Data Protection Officer for Meta Platforms, Inc., and depending on your jurisdiction, you may also contact your local Data Protection Authority ("DPA") directly. 67 Manage the ads that you see on our ProductsVisit your ad preferences. Manage Meta ads that you see off our ProductsWe advertise our own products and services on non-Meta ad platforms. We use marketing vendors to deliver these ads. Here's how to opt out of our tailored ads that you see off our Products: - Cookie-based opt out: If applicable and available in your jurisdiction, you may use the Digital Advertising Alliance industry opt-out platform, available in English and Spanish. Residents of Canada may use the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada industry opt-out platform. If you apply certain ad blockers and tools to restrict cookies, it may interfere with your ability to opt out.
- Mobile phone-based opt-out: Check your mobile device settings. Different manufacturers provide different ways to opt out of advertisements.
- Other online identifiers: You may use the NAI industry opt-out platform.
68 Port your informationIn certain cases and subject to applicable law, you have the right to port your information. 69 Delete your information or accountTo delete your information, you can: - Find and delete specific information. We offer tools that you can use to delete certain information. For example, you can use Delete buttons to delete content that you've posted to your account. You can also use tools such as activity log on Facebook to send content to the recycle bin in bulk. When you delete content, it's no longer visible to other users. Visit the Facebook Help Centre or Instagram Help Centre to learn what happens when you delete your content or move it to the recycle bin.
- Permanently delete your account. If you delete your account on Facebook or Instagram, we delete your information, including the things you've posted, such as your photos and status updates, unless we need to keep it as described in "How long do we keep your information?" Once your account is permanently deleted, you won't be able to reactivate it, and you won't be able to retrieve information, including content you've posted.
How long does it take to delete your information?If you request that we delete your account or content, it may take up to 90 days to delete your information after we begin the account deletion process or receive a content deletion request. After the information is deleted, it may take us up to another 90 days to remove it from backups and disaster recovery. If you leave your deleted content in your recycle bin on Facebook or your Recently deleted folder on Instagram, the deletion process will begin automatically in 30 days. Or you can start the deletion process straight away by deleting the content from your recycle bin or Recently Deleted folder. What is our legal basis for processing your information, and what are your rights?Highlights- You have rights to view and download the information that we have about you
- You can use the settings in this section to manage your privacy
- You also can delete your account or specific account information, if you want to
Under applicable data protection law, companies must have a legal basis to process personal data. When we talk about "processing personal data", we mean the ways we collect, use and share your information, as we described in the other sections of this Policy above. What is our legal basis?We rely on different legal bases to process your information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on different legal bases when processing your same information for different purposes. For each legal basis below, we describe why we process your information. You also have particular rights available to you depending on which legal basis we use, and we've explained these here. No matter what legal basis applies, you always have the right to request access to, rectification of and deletion of your information. To exercise your rights, see the "What are your rights?" section. We process information for the following legal bases: ConsentWe process your information if you give your consent. For example, you can allow us to show you personalised ads based on information that advertisers and other partners[70] provide to us. This includes information about your activity on their websites and apps, and certain offline interactions, such as purchases. You can withdraw consent at any time. Learn moreLegitimate interestsWe process your information as necessary for our or others' legitimate interests. Our interests include providing an innovative, personalised, safe and profitable service to our users and partners, and responding to legal requests. But we won't process your information if your interests, or your fundamental rights and freedoms, override ours. Learn moreVital interestWe process information if it will protect you or prevent harm, such as saving your life or someone else's. Learn moreLegal obligationWe process information as necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation. Learn morePublic interestWe process information as necessary for the public interest, such as conducting research or promoting safety, security and integrity. Learn moreYou have the following rights under relevant data protection laws:Access and correct informationYou have the right to access and correct your information, subject to applicable law. View and manage your informationWithdraw consentWhere we rely on your consent to process your information, you can withdraw your consent at any time. If you choose to withdraw your consent, this will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal. To exercise your rights, visit our Help Centres, your settings for Facebook and Instagram and your device-based settings. Port your informationIn certain cases and subject to applicable law, you have the right to port your information. Erase your informationYou have the right to request that we erase your information, if there are valid grounds for doing so and subject to applicable law. Also, to delete your information, you can: - Find and delete specific information using provided deletion controls For certain specific information that you can view in our Products[71], we offer tools that you can use to request deletion. For example, you can use Delete buttons to delete content that you've posted to your account. You can also use tools such as activity log on Facebook to send content to the recycle bin in bulk. When you delete content, it's no longer visible to other users. Visit the Facebook Help Centre or Instagram Help Centre to learn what happens when you delete your content or move it to the recycle bin.
- Permanently delete your account If you delete your account on Facebook or Instagram, we delete your information, including the things that you've posted, such as your photos and status updates, unless we need to retain this information as described in How long do we keep your information?". Please note that once your account is permanently deleted, you won't be able to reactivate it and you won't be able to retrieve information that you've added, including content you've posted.
How long does it take to delete your information?If you request that we delete your account or content, it may take up to 90 days to delete your information after we begin the account deletion process or receive a content deletion request. After the information is deleted, it may take us up to another 90 days to remove it from backups and disaster recovery. If you leave your deleted content in your recycle bin on Facebook or your Recently deleted folder on Instagram, the deletion process will begin automatically in 30 days. Or you can start the deletion process straight away by deleting the content from your recycle bin or Recently Deleted folder. ObjectUnsubscribeYou can use the "unsubscribe" link in our marketing communications to stop us from using your information for that direct marketing. ObjectYou can object to our processing of your information when we rely on legitimate interests or perform a task in the public interest. We will consider several factors when assessing an objection, including: - Our users' reasonable expectations
- The benefits and risks to you, us, other users or third parties[72]
- Other available means to achieve the same purpose that may be less invasive and do not require disproportionate effort
Unless we find that we have compelling legitimate grounds for this processing which are not outweighed by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms, or the processing is needed for legal reasons, your objection will be upheld. In that case, we will cease processing your information. To learn more about the circumstances in which an objection may be successful, please visit the Help Centre. Make a complaintYou also can lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office. 70 PartnerA person, business, organisation or body using or integrating our Products to advertise, market or support their products and services 71 What products does this policy cover?This policy describes the information that we, Meta Platforms, Inc., process to provide Meta Products. Meta Products, which we also call "products", include: - Facebook
- Messenger
- Instagram (including apps such as Boomerang and Threads)
- Facebook Portal products
- Meta Platforms Technologies Products, such as Meta Horizon Worlds or Meta Quest (when using a Facebook or Meta account)
- Shops
- Marketplace
- Spark AR
- Meta Business Tools
- Meta Audience Network
- Facebook View
- Meta Pay
- Meta checkout experiences
Some of our products also have a supplemental privacy policy[73] that adds to the information provided in this policy. 72 Third partyA person, business, organisation or body that is not part of the Meta Companies How long do we keep your information for?Highlights- We keep information for as long as we need it to provide a feature or service
- But you can request that we delete your information
- We'll delete that information unless we have to keep it for something else, for instance for legal reasons
We keep information for as long as we need it to provide our products, comply with legal obligations or to protect our or other's interests. We decide how long we need information on a case-by-case basis. Here's what we consider when we decide: - If we need it to operate or provide our products. For example, we need to keep some of your information to maintain your account. Learn more[74].
- The feature that we use it for and how that feature works. For example, messages sent using Messenger's vanish mode are retained for less time than regular messages. Learn more[75].
- How long we need to retain the information for to comply with certain legal obligations. See some examples[76].
- If we need it for other legitimate purposes, such as to prevent harm; investigate possible violations of our terms or policies; promote safety, security and integrity; or protect ourselves, including our rights, property or products
In some instances and for specific reasons, we'll keep information for an extended period of time. Read our policy[77] about when we may preserve your information. 74 If we need it to operate or provide our productsFor example, we keep profile information, photos you've posted (and not deleted) and security information for the lifetime of your account. And when you search for something on Facebook, we keep your search history until you clear the search in your activity log or delete your account. Once you clear a search or delete your account, it will no longer be visible to you, and it will be deleted[78]. But even if you don't clear your search or delete your account, within six months of your search, we delete information about that search that isn't necessary to show you your search history, such as information about the device you were using, or your location. 75 The feature we use it for, and how that feature worksFor example, May is planning a surprise party for Yang. She sends Cynthia the party details in Messenger using vanish mode so that the message will disappear. The message will no longer be visible to May once she leaves the chat, and Cynthia will only see the message the first time she opens the chat thread. After Cynthia reads the message, the content is deleted after one hour. If Cynthia never reads it, it's deleted after 14 days. 76 How long we need to retain the information to comply with certain legal obligationsFor example, we retain information for as long as we need it for: - A legal request or obligation, including obligations of Meta Companies or to comply with applicable law
- A governmental investigation
- A legal claim, complaint, litigation or regulatory proceedings
77 Why we may preserve your information longerYour information, including financial transaction data related to purchases or money transfers made on our products, may be preserved and accessed for a longer time period if it's related to any of the following: - A legal request or obligation, including obligations of Meta Companies or to comply with applicable law
- A governmental investigation
- An investigation of possible violations of our terms or policies
- To prevent harm
- For safety, security and integrity purposes
- To protect ourselves, including our rights, property or products
- If it's needed in relation to a legal claim, complaint, litigation or regulatory proceedings
See some examples[79]. In some cases, we may preserve your information based on the above reasons even after you request deletion of your account or some of your content. We may also preserve information from accounts that have been disabled and content that has been removed for violations of our terms and policies. 78 Delete your information or accountTo delete your information, you can: - Find and delete specific information. We offer tools that you can use to delete certain information. For example, you can use Delete buttons to delete content that you've posted to your account. You can also use tools such as activity log on Facebook to send content to the recycle bin in bulk. When you delete content, it's no longer visible to other users. Visit the Facebook Help Centre or Instagram Help Centre to learn what happens when you delete your content or move it to the recycle bin.
- Permanently delete your account. If you delete your account on Facebook or Instagram, we delete your information, including the things you've posted, such as your photos and status updates, unless we need to keep it as described in "How long do we keep your information?" Once your account is permanently deleted, you won't be able to reactivate it, and you won't be able to retrieve information, including content you've posted.
How long does it take to delete your information?If you request that we delete your account or content, it may take up to 90 days to delete your information after we begin the account deletion process or receive a content deletion request. After the information is deleted, it may take us up to another 90 days to remove it from backups and disaster recovery. If you leave your deleted content in your recycle bin on Facebook or your Recently deleted folder on Instagram, the deletion process will begin automatically in 30 days. Or you can start the deletion process straight away by deleting the content from your recycle bin or Recently Deleted folder. 79 Examples of why we might preserve your informationTo respond to a legal requestFor example, we might preserve your information after you've deleted your account when we receive a valid legal request, such as a preservation order or search warrant, related to your account. To comply with applicable lawFor example, we preserve certain information about purchases or transactions associated with an account, in line with Meta's accounting obligations. For safety, security and integrity purposesFor example, if we disable an account for violating our terms or policies, we preserve information about that user to prevent them from opening a new account. We might also preserve some of your account information as part of our review of suspicious activity. This includes any suspicious activity associated with our financial products, such as suspected money laundering or terrorist funding. For litigationWe may preserve your information where we deem it necessary for reasons related to a legal claim or complaint. For example, we may be required to defend ourselves in legal proceedings in a claim related to your information. How do we transfer information?Highlights- Because we connect people all around the world, we need to transfer information all around the world too
- When we do this, we follow international regulations to keep your information safe
Why is information transferred to other countries?We share the information that we collect globally, both internally across our offices and data centres, and externally with our partners[80], measurement vendors[81], service providers[82] and other third parties[83]. Because Meta is global, with users, partners and employees around the world, transfers are necessary for a variety of reasons, including: - So we can operate and provide the services stated in the terms of the Meta Product[84] that you're using and this policy. This includes allowing you to share information and connect with your family and friends around the globe.
- So we can fix, analyse and improve our products
Where is information transferred?Information controlled by Meta Platforms, Inc., will be transferred or transmitted to, or stored and processed in: - Places we have infrastructure or data centres, including the United States, Ireland, Denmark and Sweden, amongst others
- Countries where Meta Company Products are available
- Other countries where our partners, vendors, service providers and other third parties are located outside of the country where you live, for purposes as described in this policy
How do we safeguard your information?We rely on appropriate mechanisms[85] for international data transfers. We also make sure that appropriate safeguards are in place whenever we transfer your information. For example, we encrypt your information when it's in transit over public networks to protect it from unauthorised access. 80 PartnerA person, business, organisation or body using or integrating our Products to advertise, market or support their products and services 81 Measurement vendorA third party that creates reports to help advertisers understand how their content and ads are performing. These reports also measure whether people took an action after seeing an ad. 82 Service providerA person, business, organisation or body that provides services to Meta or to our users on behalf of Meta. For example, our service providers do things such as investigate suspicious activity and provide customer support. 83 Third partyA person, business, organisation or body that is not part of the Meta Companies 84 What products does this policy cover?This policy describes the information that we, Meta Platforms, Inc., process to provide Meta Products. Meta Products, which we also call "products", include: - Facebook
- Messenger
- Instagram (including apps such as Boomerang and Threads)
- Facebook Portal products
- Meta Platforms Technologies Products, such as Meta Horizon Worlds or Meta Quest (when using a Facebook or Meta account)
- Shops
- Marketplace
- Spark AR
- Meta Business Tools
- Meta Audience Network
- Facebook View
- Meta Pay
- Meta checkout experiences
Some of our products also have a supplemental privacy policy[86] that adds to the information provided in this policy. 85 Mechanisms we use for global data transfersWe rely on appropriate mechanisms for international data transfers. For example, for information we collect: - We rely on relevant "adequacy regulations" from the UK Government by which they recognise that certain countries and territories outside the UK ensure an adequate level of protection for personal data. We transfer the information we collect from the UK from Meta Platforms, Inc., to countries such as member states of the European Economic Area, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland. Learn more about the countries or territories for which there are adequacy regulations.
- In other circumstances, we use the UK standard contractual transfer mechanisms approved by the UK Parliament (the International Data Transfer Agreement and the International Data Transfer Addendum) or rely on derogations provided for under applicable law to transfer information to a third country.
- In addition to the UK standard contractual transfer mechanisms, we also apply supplemental measures to ensure equivalent protection of your data when transferred.
If you have any questions about Meta's international data transfers, you can contact us. How do we respond to legal requests, comply with applicable law and prevent harm?Highlights- Sometimes we have to provide information to respond to legal requests when necessary
- If there's a law that says we need to keep your information for some reason, we need to comply with it. So we'll keep information to obey that law.
- We also sometimes keep information that we think will help prevent or stop bad activity, either on our Products or in the world
We access, preserve, use and share your information: - In response to legal requests, such as search warrants, court orders, production orders or subpoenas. These requests come from third parties[87] such as civil litigants, law enforcement and other government authorities. Learn more[88] about when we respond to legal requests.
- In accordance with applicable law
- To promote the safety, security and integrity of Meta Products[89], users, employees, property and the public. Learn more[90].
We may access or preserve your information for an extended amount of time. Learn more[91]. 87 Third partyA person, business, organisation or body that is not part of the Meta Companies 88 When we respond to legal requestsWe respond to legal requests where we're required by law to do so, and at times where we're not compelled by law, but a response: - May affect users in that jurisdiction, and
- Is consistent with internationally recognised standards including, for example, our Corporate Human Rights Policy.
Learn more about government requests and how we've responded. 89 What products does this policy cover?This policy describes the information that we, Meta Platforms, Inc., process to provide Meta Products. Meta Products, which we also call "products", include: - Facebook
- Messenger
- Instagram (including apps such as Boomerang and Threads)
- Facebook Portal products
- Meta Platforms Technologies Products, such as Meta Horizon Worlds or Meta Quest (when using a Facebook or Meta account)
- Shops
- Marketplace
- Spark AR
- Meta Business Tools
- Meta Audience Network
- Facebook View
- Meta Pay
- Meta checkout experiences
Some of our products also have a supplemental privacy policy[92] that adds to the information provided in this policy. 90 How we promote safety, security and integrityWe share your information with law enforcement, government authorities, Meta Companies and other third parties (including industry peers) when we have a good faith belief that it's necessary to detect, prevent and address a variety of situations, such as: - Unauthorised use of our products. See an example.[93]
- Violations of our terms and policies. See an example.[94]
- Investigating suspicious activity
- Protecting ourselves, including our rights, property, personnel or products
- Preventing abuse, fraud or other harmful or illegal activity, on and off our products
- Protecting you or others, including as part of investigations or regulatory enquiries
- Emergency situations, such as risk of death or imminent bodily harm
91 Why we may preserve your information longerYour information, including financial transaction data related to purchases or money transfers made on our products, may be preserved and accessed for a longer time period if it's related to any of the following: - A legal request or obligation, including obligations of Meta Companies or to comply with applicable law
- A governmental investigation
- An investigation of possible violations of our terms or policies
- To prevent harm
- For safety, security and integrity purposes
- To protect ourselves, including our rights, property or products
- If it's needed in relation to a legal claim, complaint, litigation or regulatory proceedings
See some examples[95]. In some cases, we may preserve your information based on the above reasons even after you request deletion of your account or some of your content. We may also preserve information from accounts that have been disabled and content that has been removed for violations of our terms and policies. 93 Unauthorised use of our productsFor example, if you unlawfully collect and use Facebook user data, we may share your information to defend ourselves against claims or in litigation. 94 Violations of our terms and policiesFor example, if you post threatening or harmful content, we may share your information across the Meta Companies to protect ourselves and others. This can include blocking your access to certain features or disabling your account across the Meta Companies. 95 Examples of why we might preserve your informationTo respond to a legal requestFor example, we might preserve your information after you've deleted your account when we receive a valid legal request, such as a preservation order or search warrant, related to your account. To comply with applicable lawFor example, we preserve certain information about purchases or transactions associated with an account, in line with Meta's accounting obligations. For safety, security and integrity purposesFor example, if we disable an account for violating our terms or policies, we preserve information about that user to prevent them from opening a new account. We might also preserve some of your account information as part of our review of suspicious activity. This includes any suspicious activity associated with our financial products, such as suspected money laundering or terrorist funding. For litigationWe may preserve your information where we deem it necessary for reasons related to a legal claim or complaint. For example, we may be required to defend ourselves in legal proceedings in a claim related to your information. How will you know the policy has changed?We'll notify you before we make material changes to this Policy. You'll have the opportunity to review the revised Policy before you choose to continue using our products. Return to topLegal basis informationCompliance with a legal obligationThe categories of information we use, why we process your information based on compliance with a legal obligation and how it's processed are set out below: Why and how we process your information | Information categories that we use (see "What Information do we collect?" for more details on each information category). The actual information that we use depends on your factual circumstances, but could include any of the following: |
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For processing information when the law requires it: Where we are under an obligation to disclose information such as, for example, if we receive a valid legal request for certain information (such as a search warrant), we will access, preserve and/or share your information with regulators, law enforcement or others. The way in which the information will be processed depends on the specific circumstances, see How do we respond to legal requests, prevent harm and promote safety and integrity? for more details. Information for Law Enforcement Authorities provides information on the operational guidelines that law enforcement needs to follow. | The categories of information depend on the specific circumstances of each mandatory request or obligation. Only the information necessary to comply with the relevant legal obligation will be processed. For example, for civil matters, this will typically include limited information (such as contact details and login information). However, depending on the circumstances, it could include the following: Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Messages that you send and receive, including their content, subject to applicable law
- Metadata about content and messages
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make, including truncated credit card information
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties |
Legitimate interestsWe rely on our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, where they are not outweighed by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms ("legitimate interests"). The categories of information that we use, the legitimate interests relied on and why and how it's processed are set out below: Why and how we process your information | Legitimate interests relied on | Information categories that we use (see "What Information do we collect?" for more details on each information category). The actual information that we use depends on your factual circumstances, but could include any of the following: |
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If you are a registered user of the Meta Products |
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For people under the age of majority (under 18, in most applicable countries) who have a limited ability to enter into an enforceable contract only, where we may be unable to process your information on the grounds of contractual necessity. |
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Personalising the Meta Products: Our systems automatically process information that we've collected and stored associated with you and others to assess and understand your interests and preferences, and to provide you with personalised experiences across the Meta Products in accordance with our terms. This is how we: - Personalise features and content (such as your News Feed, Instagram feed and Stories),
- Personalise the ads that people see, and
- Make suggestions for you (such as people you may know, groups or events that you may be interested in or topics that you may want to follow) on and off our Products.
Learn more about how we use information about you to personalise your experience on and across Meta Products, and how we choose the ads that you see. | - To create, provide, support and maintain innovative products and features that enable people under the age of majority to express themselves, communicate, discover and engage with information and communities relevant to their interests, build community and utilise tools and features that promote their well-being.
- To share meaningful updates with our users under the age of majority about our Products and promoting our Products.
- To provide, personalise and improve the Meta Products in a consistent manner while ensuring that additional safeguards for those under the age of consent.
- The legitimate interest of our users in being able to access the Meta Products and those Products being personalised to each user.
| Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Metadata about content
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings (e.g. GPS location)
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to
- Reports about our Products' performance on your device
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties (other than using partner data to tailor ads to you) | Providing and improving our Meta Products: The provision of the Meta Products includes collecting, storing and, where relevant, sharing, profiling, reviewing and curating, automated processing, and in some instances, manual (human) reviewing, to: - Create and maintain your account and profile,
- Connect your Meta Products account, including your public profile information, to an integrated partner to sign in or share your information,
- Facilitate the sharing of content and status,
- Provide and curate features,
- Provide messaging services, the ability to make voice and video calls and connect with others,
- Provide advertising products,
- Understand and enable creation of content such as text, images and videos, and
- Undertake analytics.
We also use the information we have to develop, research and test improvements to our Products. We use information we collect to: - See if a product is working correctly
- Troubleshoot and fix it when it's not
- Try out new products and features to see if they work
- Get feedback on our ideas for products or features
- Conduct surveys and other research about what you like about our Products and brands, and what we can do better
| - To create, provide, support and maintain innovative products and features that enable people under the age of majority to express themselves, communicate, discover and engage with information and communities relevant to their interests, build community and utilise tools and features that promote their well-being.
- To enable people under the age of majority to use and connect to the Meta Products in an easy and intuitive manner.
- To provide, personalise and improve the Meta Products in a consistent manner while ensuring that additional safeguards for those under the age of consent.
- The legitimate interest of our users in being able to access the Meta Products and those Products being personalised to each user.
| Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Your public profile information (including your name, username and profile picture)
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Messages that you send and receive, including their content, subject to applicable law
- Metadata about content and messages
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make, including truncated credit card information
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Promoting safety, integrity and security on and across the Meta Products: The Meta Products are designed to help ensure the safety, integrity and security of those services and those people who enjoy them. We process the information that we have associated with you and apply automated processing techniques and, in some instances, conduct manual (human) review to: - Verify accounts and activity,
- Find and address violations of our terms or policies. In some cases, the decisions that we make about violations are reviewed by the Oversight Board,
- Investigate suspicious activity,
- Detect, prevent and combat harmful or unlawful behaviour, such as to review, and in some cases remove, content reported to us,
- Detect and prevent spam and other bad experiences,
- Detect and stop threats to our personnel and property, and
- Maintain the integrity of our Products.
For more information on safety, integrity and security generally on the Meta Products, visit the Facebook Security Help Centre and Instagram Security Tips. | - To secure our platform and network, to verify accounts and activity, to combat harmful conduct, to detect, prevent and address spam and other bad experiences, to keep the Meta Products free of harmful or inappropriate content, to investigate suspicious activity or breaches of our terms or policies and to protect the safety of people under the age of majority, including to prevent exploitation or other harm to which such individuals may be particularly vulnerable.
- In the interests of our users and the public at large, to prevent bad experiences and promote safety, integrity and security.
| Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Messages that you send and receive, including their content, subject to applicable law
- Metadata about content and messages
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make, including truncated credit card information
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Communicating with you: We use the information you've given us (e.g. contact information you've entered on your profile) to send you a communication, such as an email or in-product notice, for example: - we'll contact you via email or in-product notifications in relation to the Meta Products, product-related issues, research or to let you know about our terms and policies.
We also use contact information such as your email address to respond to you when you contact us. | - To share meaningful updates with our users under the age of majority about our Products and promoting our Products.
| Your activity and information that you provide: - Contact information on your profile and your communications with us
- Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
| For all people, including those under the age of majority |
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Providing measurement, analytics and other business services to businesses, advertisers and other partners: Our systems automatically, as well as with some manual (human) processing, process information that we've collected and stored about you and others. We use this information to: - Provide insights and measurement reports to businesses, advertisers and other partners to help them measure the effectiveness and distribution of their, or their client's ads, content and services, to understand the kinds of people who are seeing their content and ads, and how their content and ads are performing on and off the Meta Products, and
- Provide aggregated user analytics and insights reports that help businesses, advertisers and other partners better understand things, such as the audiences with whom they may want to connect, as well as the types of people who use their products and services and how people interact with their websites, apps, products and services, including to connect to Meta Products, and the performance of their connection and networks and users' experience with them.
| - In our interest to provide accurate and reliable reporting to our businesses, advertisers and other partners, to ensure accurate pricing and statistics on performance and to demonstrate the value that our partners realise using Meta Company Products, and to provide suitable payment and billing options to our advertisers and other partners; and
- In the interests of advertisers, developers and other partners to help them understand their customers and improve their businesses, validate our pricing models and evaluate the effectiveness of their products, services, online content and advertising on and off the Meta Company Products.
| Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to and your connection, including your IP address
- Reports about our Products' performance on your device
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Communicating, engaging and sharing across the Meta Company Products: - To provide a seamless, consistent, richer and innovative experience across the Meta Company Products and to enable cross-app interactions, sharing, viewing and engaging with content, including posts and videos.
| In our interest to provide seamless, consistent, richer, innovative communication, engagement and sharing experiences across Meta Company Products. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Metadata about content
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to and your connection, including your IP address
- Reports about our Products' performance on your device
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Business intelligence and analytics: - To understand, in aggregate, your usage of and across our Products, to accurately count people and businesses; and
- Validate metrics directly related to these, in order to inform and improve product direction and development and to adhere to (shareholder/earning) reporting obligations.
| In our interest to measure the use of our Products and services, and count the people who interact with our Products and services in order to inform and improve product direction and development and to enable provision of accurate and reliable reporting. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Metadata about content and messages
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Location-related information
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Identifying you as a Meta Product user and personalising the ads that we show you through Meta Audience Network when you visit other apps: - When we show you ads through Meta Audience Network when you visit other apps, our systems automatically process the information that we have collected and stored about you and others to identify you as a Meta Product user and tailor the ads that you see.
| - In our interest to fund our provision of the Meta Products and provide quality personalised advertising to users who visit the websites, apps and devices that use our advertising services;
- In our interest to promote the Meta Products to people who are not registered users of the Meta Products; and
- In the interests of advertisers who wish to reach people who may be interested in their information, products or services.
| Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Metadata about content
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
- Information from partners, vendors and third parties
| Receiving and using information from a specific business to tailor the ads that you see: - We'll use information from a specific business that has shared a list of individuals or devices with us, if we've matched your profile to information on that list, to tailor ads that we show you on Meta Products, including through Meta Audience Network.
| - In our interest to fund our provision of the Meta Products and provide quality personalised advertising to users who visit the websites, apps and devices that use our advertising services; and
- In the interests of advertisers who wish to reach people who may be interested in their information, products or services.
| Your activity and information that you provide: - Information and content that you provide, such as your name or email address
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Providing marketing communications to you: - Depending on your settings, we'll share marketing communications with you.
- We'll collect and store your information and use it to send marketing communications to you, such as an email.
| In our interest to promote Meta Company Products and send our direct marketing. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Information and content that you provide, including your contact information, such as an email address
App, browser and device information: | Research and innovate for social good: - We carry out surveys and use information (including from researchers that we collaborate with) to conduct and support research and innovation on topics of general social welfare, technological advancement, public interest, health and well-being.
- For example, we analyse information that we have about migration patterns during crises. This helps relief organisations get aid to the right places.
- We collect, store, combine, analyse and apply automatic processing techniques – such as aggregation of information as well as manual (human) review – and share information, as necessary, to research and innovate for social good in this way. We do this to help us create things such as COVID-19 forecasting models.
Learn more about our research programmes. | In our interest and those of the general public to further the state-of-the-art or academic understanding on important social issues that affect our society and world in a positive way. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Metadata about content and messages
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Location-related information
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Anonymising your information In some cases, we anonymise information that we have about you, such as your activity on and off our Products, and use the resulting information, for example, to provide and improve our Meta Products, including ads. | - In our interest to fund our provision of the Meta Products, provide relevant advertising to users, and improve ad delivery and Meta Products;
- In the interests of advertisers to help them reach relevant audiences who may be interested in their information, products or services;
- In the interests of users that Meta practise data minimisation and privacy by design in respect of their information
| Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Metadata about content
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to and your connection, including your IP address
- Reports about our Products' performance on your device
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Share information with others, including law enforcement and to respond to legal requests. See How do we respond to legal requests, prevent harm and promote safety and security? for information on when we share information with law enforcement and others. The categories of information that we access, preserve, use and share depend on the specific circumstances. For example, responses to legal requests where not compelled by law, will typically include limited information (such as contact details and login information). However, the information we process will depend on the purposes, which could include the following: - In response to legal requests[96] from third parties, such as civil litigants, law enforcement and other government authorities.
- To comply with applicable law or legitimate legal purposes.
- To promote the safety, security and integrity of Meta, Meta Products, Products, users, employees, property and the public.
Learn more about how we promote safety, security and integrity. | In our interest and the interest of the general public to prevent and address fraud, unauthorised use of the Meta Company Products, violations of our terms or policies, or other harmful or illegal activity; to protect ourselves (including our rights, Meta personnel and property or Meta Products), our users or others, including as part of investigations or regulatory enquiries; or to prevent death or imminent bodily harm. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Metadata about content
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make
- Hashtags you use
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Location-related information
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Promote safety, integrity and security in limited circumstances outside of the performance of our contracts with you: - Our Meta Products are delivered to ensure the safety, integrity and security of those services and those people who enjoy them.
- We apply automated processing, as well as manual (human) review to verify accounts and activity, combat harmful conduct, detect and prevent spam and other security matters, as well as bad experiences of other types, to maintain the integrity of our Products and to promote safety, integrity and security on and off Meta Products.
- For example, we use information that we have to investigate suspicious activity or breaches of our terms or policies, or to detect when someone needs help.
To learn more, visit the Facebook Security Help Centre and Instagram Security Tips. | - In our interest to secure our platform and network, to verify accounts and activity, to combat harmful conduct, to detect, prevent and address spam and other bad experiences, to keep the Meta Company Products free of harmful or inappropriate content, and to investigate and take action in respect of suspicious activity or breaches of our terms or policies; and
- In the interests of our users and the public at large, to prevent bad experiences and promote safety, integrity and security.
| Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Metadata about content
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make, including truncated credit card information
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Sharing your contact, profile or other information with third parties upon your request: You may choose to share your contact information, profile information and other data with our partners: The types of partners with whom information is shared depends on the features of our service that you use and the manner in which you choose to use them. For example, you may choose to share your email address, date of birth, friends list, home town or other information with a partner if you choose to connect your Facebook account to their app. | - To deliver quality experiences to users who use our partners' apps, in our best interest and in the interest of our users.
- To facilitate and improve users' experiences in their apps, in the interests of our partners who want to facilitate and improve consumers' experiences in their apps.
| Information that you provide (for example, your email address, date of birth, friends' list and hometown). | If you're using a device that we can't associate with a registered user of the Meta Products |
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Promote safety, integrity and security: - Our Meta Products are delivered in a manner to ensure the safety, integrity and security of those services and those people who enjoy them.
- We collect and store the information we have for this purpose and apply automated processing and manual (i.e. human) review to verify accounts and activity, combat harmful conduct, detect and prevent spam and other security matters, as well as bad experiences of other types, to maintain the integrity of our Products and to research and promote safety, integrity and security on and off Meta Products.
- For example, we use information that we have to investigate suspicious activity or breaches of our terms or policies, or to detect when someone needs help.
To learn more, visit the Facebook Security Help Centre and Instagram Security Tips. | - In our interest to secure our platform and network, to verify accounts and activity, to combat harmful conduct, to detect, prevent and address spam and other bad experiences, to keep the Meta Company Products free of harmful or inappropriate content, and to investigate and take action in respect of suspicious activity or breaches of our terms or policies; and
- In the interests of our users generally and the public at large, to prevent bad experiences and promote safety, integrity and security.
| Your activity and information that you provide: - Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Providing marketing communications to you: We'll collect and store your information and use it to send marketing communications to you, such as an email address. | In our interest to promote Meta Company Products and send our direct marketing. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Information and content you provide, including your contact information such as your email address
| Research and innovate for social good: - We carry out surveys and use information (including from research partners we collaborate with) to conduct and support research and innovation on topics of general social welfare, technological advancement, public interest, health and well-being.
- We collect, store, combine, analyse and apply automatic processing techniques – such as aggregation of information as well as manual (human) review – as necessary, to research and innovate for social good in this way.
Learn more about our research programmes. | In our interest and in the interests of the general public to further the state-of-the-art or academic understanding on important social issues that affect our society and world in a positive way. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Share information with others, including law enforcement and to respond to legal requests[96]. See "How do we respond to legal requests, prevent harm and promote safety and security?" for details on when we share information with law enforcement and others. The categories of information that we access, preserve, use and share depend on the specific circumstances. For example, responses to legal requests where not compelled by law, will typically include limited information (such as contact details and login information). However, the information we process will depend on the purposes, which could include the following: - In response to legal requests[96] from third parties, such as civil litigants, law enforcement and other government authorities.
- To comply with applicable law or legitimate legal purposes.
- To promote the safety, security and integrity of Meta, Meta Products, Products, users, employees, property and the public.
Learn more about how we promote safety, security and integrity. | In our interest and the interest of the general public to prevent and address fraud, unauthorised use of the Meta Company Products, violations of our terms or policies, or other harmful or illegal activity; to protect ourselves (including our rights, Meta personnel and property or Meta Products), our users or others, including as part of investigations or regulatory enquiries; or to prevent death or imminent bodily harm. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | Product improvement: We use information we collect to: - See if a product is working correctly
- Troubleshoot and fix it when it's not
- Try out new products and features to see if they work
- Get feedback on our ideas for products or features
- Conduct surveys and other research about what you like about our Products and brands, and what we can do better
| To improve the Meta Company Products in a consistent manner, to correct technical glitches and to optimise functionality. | App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties |
When we process your information as necessary to pursue our legitimate interests or those of a third party, you have the right to object to, and seek restriction of, such processing; to exercise your right, visit the Facebook settings and the Help Centre and Instagram settings. We will consider several factors when assessing an objection, including: our users' reasonable expectations; the benefits and risks to you, us, other users or third parties; and other available means to achieve the same purpose that may be less invasive and do not require disproportionate effort. Unless we find that we have compelling legitimate grounds for this processing that are not outweighed by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms or the processing is needed for legal reasons, your objection will be upheld and we will cease processing your information. To learn more about the circumstances in which an objection may be successful, please visit the Help Centre. If you are under the age of majority in your country and there is no enforceable contract in place, we will take particular account of the fact that you are below the age of majority when conducting our assessment of our legitimate interests and the balancing of your interests and rights. We provide specific protections for people below the age of majority to ensure that they are aware of the risks, consequences, safeguards and rights associated with the processing of their information. Tasks carried out in the public interestThe purposes for which we anticipate processing your information as a task in the public interest, the processing we undertake and the information that we use is set out below: Why and how we process your information | Information categories that we use (see "What Information do we collect?" for more details on each information category). The actual information that we use depends on your factual circumstances, but could include any of the following: |
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Undertaking research for social good: We collect, store, combine, analyse and apply automatic processing techniques, such as aggregation to information, as well as manual (human) review as necessary to undertake research and other tasks in the public interest, such as sharing relevant research data with third parties, for example, international organisations and academics both in and outside the UK. The public interest is required to be laid down in UK law or other applicable law to which we are subject. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Metadata about content
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties | To promote safety, integrity and security: In limited fact-specific circumstances, we will access, preserve and share your information with regulators, law enforcement or others where necessary to perform a task in the public interest. For example, we might share information with others for the purposes of combatting unlawful or harmful behaviour where it is in the public interest to do so and where the public interest is laid down in UK law or other applicable law to which we are subject. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Metadata about content
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make, including truncated credit card information
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from Partners, vendors and third parties |
When we process your information as necessary for a task carried out in the public interest, you have the right to object to, and seek restriction of, our processing. To exercise your rights, visit the Facebook settings and the Help Centre and Instagram settings. In assessing an objection, we will consider several factors, including: our users' reasonable user expectations; the benefits and risks to you, us, other users or third parties; and other available means to achieve the same purpose that may be less invasive and do not require disproportionate effort. Your objection will be upheld, and we will cease processing your information, unless we find that we have compelling legitimate grounds for this processing that are not outweighed by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms or the processing is needed for legal reasons. To learn more about the circumstances in which an objection may be successful, please visit the Help Centre. Protection of your vital interests or that of another personThe categories of information we use, why we process your information to protect your vital interests or those of another person and how it's processed are set out below Why and how we process your information | Information categories that we use (see "What Information do we collect?" for more details on each information category). The actual information that we use depends on your factual circumstances, but could include any of the following: |
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Protecting the vital interests of you and/or those of another person: We apply automated processing techniques, conduct manual (human) review and share information, including with law enforcement and others, in circumstances where someone's vital interests require protection, such as in the case of emergencies. These vital interests include protection of your life, physical or mental health, well-being or integrity or that of others, and detecting, removing and reporting illegal content. In protecting such vital interests, we aim to combat harmful conduct and promote safety, integrity and security, including, for example, when we are investigating reports of harmful conduct or taking appropriate action, such as sharing information with relevant authorities, when someone needs help. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio
- Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features
- Messages that you send and receive, including their content, subject to applicable law
- Metadata about content and messages
- Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it
- Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them
- Purchases or other transactions that you make, including truncated credit card information
- Hashtags you use
- The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products
Friends, followers and other connections App, browser and device information: - Device characteristics and device software
- What you're doing on your device, such as whether our app is in the foreground or if your mouse is moving (which can help tell humans from bots)
- Identifiers that tell your device apart from other users'
- Device signals
- Information that you've shared through your device settings
- Location-related information
- Information about the network that you connect your device to, including your IP address
- Information from cookies and similar technologies
Information from partners, vendors and third parties |
96 How we promote safety, security and integrityWe share your information with law enforcement, government authorities, Meta Companies and other third parties (including industry peers) when we have a good faith belief that it's necessary to detect, prevent and address a variety of situations, such as: - Unauthorised use of our products. See an example.[97]
- Violations of our terms and policies. See an example.[98]
- Investigating suspicious activity
- Protecting ourselves, including our rights, property, personnel or products
- Preventing abuse, fraud or other harmful or illegal activity, on and off our products
- Protecting you or others, including as part of investigations or regulatory enquiries
- Emergency situations, such as risk of death or imminent bodily harm
97 Unauthorised use of our productsFor example, if you unlawfully collect and use Facebook user data, we may share your information to defend ourselves against claims or in litigation. 98 Violations of our terms and policiesFor example, if you post threatening or harmful content, we may share your information across the Meta Companies to protect ourselves and others. This can include blocking your access to certain features or disabling your account across the Meta Companies. |
