The policy states that Meta uses inferred sensitive attributes including religious views, political views, and health information in its advertising systems, describing the use as exclusionary rather than directly targeting on those bases, though the policy acknowledges these attributes inform ad delivery.
This analysis describes what Meta's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision discloses that sensitive personal data categories are processed within Meta's advertising infrastructure. The distinction between 'exclusionary' and 'targeting' use of special category data may require evaluation under GDPR Article 9, which restricts processing of such data regardless of the direction of its application in ad delivery.
Interpretive note: The policy's distinction between 'exclusionary' and 'direct targeting' use of sensitive attributes is operationally ambiguous and the GDPR Article 9 compliance implications of this distinction depend on regulatory interpretation and enforcement posture.
This clause establishes that Meta's systems process inferred information about a user's religious views, political views, and health as part of ad delivery, even if the stated purpose is to avoid showing certain sensitive ads rather than to serve them.
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to object to profiling activities based on our own legitimate interests
"We use information about you including your religious views, political views, or health to provide you with ads. We don't use special category information to target ads directly based on these topics, but we do use this information to make sure we don't show you ads that might be sensitive given this information.Excerpt from Meta's Privacy Policy
(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: GDPR Article 9 prohibits processing of special categories of personal data (including data revealing political opinions, religious beliefs, and health data) without explicit consent or another enumerated exception.
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This provision discloses that sensitive personal data categories are processed within Meta's advertising infrastructure. The distinction between 'exclusionary' and 'targeting' use of special category data may require evaluation under GDPR Article 9, which restricts processing of such data regardless of the direction of its application in ad delivery.
This clause establishes that Meta's systems process inferred information about a user's religious views, political views, and health as part of ad delivery, even if the stated purpose is to avoid showing certain sensitive ads rather than to serve them.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 290 platforms. See the full comparison.
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