Meta · Meta Terms of Service · View original document ↗

Behavioral Advertising and Data Use

High severity Unique · 0 of 343 platforms
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Recent governance activity Meta recorded 20 documented changes in the last 30 days.
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Document Record

What it is

Meta doesn't sell your name or email to advertisers directly, but it does use detailed information about your behaviour, interests, and identity to target ads at you on behalf of advertisers, and reports back to advertisers on how you interacted with those ads.

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

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

This clause defines the operational boundaries of Meta's data-sharing practices with advertising partners, establishing that direct identifiers remain separate from behavioral targeting mechanisms while performance analytics are provided to inform advertiser optimization.

Recent Activity

This document changed recently

High Apr 21, 2026

The updated terms establish a jurisdictional change for consumers. Previously, all disputes had to be resolved in California courts; now, if you are a consumer or if your country requires it, disputes must be resolved in courts within your home country under your home country's laws. For Meta's own claims against you, the agreement still requires disputes to proceed exclusively in California courts. The revised terms also now require Meta to notify you at least 30 days in advance before making changes to these Terms, and you will have the opportunity to review them before they take effect, unless changes are required by law.

View change record →

Clause Stability Stable

0
Changes
3
Months Monitored
Apr 9, 2026
First Seen
Apr 10, 2026
Last Seen
This clause type exists across 381 other provisions on other platforms.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Meta builds detailed profiles of your online and offline behaviour to serve you targeted advertising, and shares performance data about your engagement with ads with advertisers — practices that EU and California regulators have determined require explicit, freely given consent separate from platform access.

What you can do

⚠️ These actions may provide transparency or partial mitigation but may not fully address the underlying issue. Effectiveness varies by jurisdiction and individual circumstances.
  • Opt Out of Arbitration
    Go to Facebook Settings > Ads > Ad Settings to review and limit how Meta uses your data for advertising, including data from partners and off-Facebook activity. Note: EU users can withdraw advertising consent via the consent management tool shown upon login.

How other platforms handle this

LinkedIn Medium

We target (and measure the performance of) ads to Members, Visitors and others both on and off our Services directly or through a variety of partners, using the following data, whether separately or combined: Data from advertising technologies on and off our Services, like web beacons, pixels, ad ta...

Microsoft Azure Medium

Microsoft uses data we collect to provide you with rich, interactive experiences. In particular, we may use data to show you advertising or serve Microsoft-selected content within Microsoft products and services. Microsoft does not use what you say in email, chat, video calls, or voice mail to targe...

Activision Medium

Activision uses 'Cookies' to tailor content and marketing, and to improve and adjust user experiences.

See all platforms with this clause type →

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
We don't sell your personal data to advertisers, and we don't share information that directly identifies you (such as your name, email address or other contact information) with advertisers unless you give us permission. Instead, advertisers give us information like the type of audience they want to reach, and we serve those ads to people who may be relevant. We provide advertisers with reports about the performance of their ads that help them understand how people are interacting with their content. See Section 2 above to learn more about how we use your information and how it is shared with our partners. We also provide advertisers with information about how their ads perform. See our Privacy Policy for more information about our advertising practices.

— Excerpt from Meta's Meta Terms of Service

ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance intelligence)

(1) REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision engages GDPR Art. 6(1)(a) (consent as legal basis for behavioural advertising), Art. 6(1)(f) (legitimate interests), and the CJEU ruling in C-252/21 (Meta v. Bundeskartellamt) which held that consent for personalised advertising must be freely given and not bundled with service access. CPRA §1798.120 grants California residents the right to opt out of sharing personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising, which the CPRA treats as equivalent to 'sale.' The ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC) Art. 5(3) governs cookie-based tracking used to build advertising profiles. The FTC Act Section 5 applies to material misrepresentations about the nature of data use in advertising. The EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) Art. 5(2) specifically prohibits Meta as a designated gatekeeper from combining personal data across services for advertising without explicit consent. (2)

Full compliance analysis

Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has jurisdiction over deceptive advertising practices and misrepresentations about data use under FTC Act Section 5, and has previously issued enforcement orders against Meta regarding its advertising data practices.
    File a complaint →
  • State AG
    California's CPPA and State AG enforce CPRA opt-out rights for cross-context behavioural advertising; other State AGs enforce consumer protection laws regarding data-driven advertising practices.
    File a complaint →

Applicable regulations

EU AI Act
European Union
BIPA
Illinois, USA
CCPA/CPRA
California, USA
COPPA
United States Federal
Colorado AI Act
US-CO
CAN-SPAM
United States Federal
ePrivacy Directive
European Union
FTC Act Section 5
United States Federal
GDPR
European Union
TCPA
United States Federal
UK GDPR
United Kingdom

Provision details

Document information
Document
Meta Terms of Service
Entity
Meta
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 6, 2026
Last verified
April 9, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-002386
Document ID
CA-D-00020
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
8a855e4c147f2c90abe6867d9f920a94ad0e0ebee43fb73d9f0d62acffd1e90c
Analysis generated
March 6, 2026 20:29 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Meta
Document: Meta Terms of Service
Record ID: CA-P-002386
Captured: 2026-03-06 20:29:13 UTC
SHA-256: 8a855e4c147f2c90…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/meta/meta-terms-of-service/behavioral-advertising-and-data-use/
Accessed: June 15, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
High
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Meta's Behavioral Advertising and Data Use clause do?

This clause defines the operational boundaries of Meta's data-sharing practices with advertising partners, establishing that direct identifiers remain separate from behavioral targeting mechanisms while performance analytics are provided to inform advertiser optimization.

How does this clause affect you?

Meta builds detailed profiles of your online and offline behaviour to serve you targeted advertising, and shares performance data about your engagement with ads with advertisers — practices that EU and California regulators have determined require explicit, freely given consent separate from platform access.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Meta?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta.