Pinterest · Pinterest Privacy Policy · View original document ↗

Inferred Interest Data and Personalization

Medium severity Medium confidence Explicitdocumentlanguage Unique · 0 of 325 platforms
Share 𝕏 Share in Share 🔒 PDF
Monitor governance changes for Pinterest Create a free account to receive the weekly governance digest and monitor one platform for governance changes.
Create free account No credit card required.
Document Record

What it is

Pinterest creates inferred interest profiles about you based on your activity on and off the platform, and uses these inferences to personalize the content and ads you see.

This analysis describes what Pinterest'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)

The policy states that Pinterest builds inferred interest profiles using both on-platform and off-platform activity data, which means the data used to target you reflects a combination of your Pinterest behavior and your broader online activity as observed through partner integrations.

Interpretive note: The policy does not specify the categories of inferences drawn or enumerate which interest profile attributes can be excluded through available opt-out mechanisms.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

This provision authorizes Pinterest to derive inferred interest and preference profiles from your activity data, which directly determines the ads and content recommendations you receive; users wishing to limit this profiling may do so through ad personalization settings, though the policy does not specify whether all inference categories can be fully excluded.

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
    Log in to Pinterest, go to Settings, select Privacy, and adjust your ad personalization preferences to limit how inferred interest data is used to target ads to you.

How other platforms handle this

American Airlines Medium

We may link or combine information that we collect about you (such as linking your travel booking to your AAdvantage® account, or adding saved AAdvantage® account information to your booking). This may include information that we collect offline (such as in-person airport interactions), information ...

TurboTax Medium

We use your personal information to personalize your experience with our products and services, improve and develop new features and products, conduct research and analytics, and to send you communications about products and services that may interest you.

Perplexity AI Medium

Perplexity may collect and use aggregated and de-identified data derived from Customer's and Authorized Users' use of the Service for purposes of improving, developing, and enhancing the Service and Perplexity's AI models, provided that such data does not identify Customer or any individual user.

See all platforms with this clause type →

Monitoring

Pinterest has changed this document before.

Receive same-day alerts, structured change summaries, and monitoring for up to 10 platforms.

Start Watcher free trial Or create a free account →
▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
We use information about you to provide, improve, and develop our products and services, personalize your experience, show you relevant content and ads, and communicate with you. We draw inferences about your interests and preferences based on your activity on Pinterest and elsewhere.

— Excerpt from Pinterest's Pinterest Privacy Policy

ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance intelligence)

(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Under GDPR, automated profiling that produces significant effects on individuals is subject to restrictions under Article 22. Ad personalization profiling for standard commercial targeting is generally not considered to produce legal or similarly significant effects, but documentation of the profiling logic and data sources may be required. Under CPRA, consumers have the right to opt out of automated decision-making in certain contexts and to limit use of sensitive personal information in profiling. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. Interest profiling derived from on- and off-platform data is standard practice for ad-supported platforms; however, the breadth of data inputs (including off-platform browsing) and the lack of specificity about inference categories may engage GDPR transparency obligations under Article 13/14, which require disclosure of the logic of automated processing. (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: EEA users may request information about the logic of profiling under GDPR. California users under CPRA have opt-out rights for automated decision-making and profiling using sensitive personal information. Other US state privacy laws (Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut) provide opt-out rights for profiling used for targeted advertising. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Where inferred interest data is shared with advertising partners, the legal basis for that sharing should be documented. Vendor contracts should clarify whether partners may use inferred interest data for their own purposes beyond the stated ad delivery function. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should document the categories of inferences drawn, the data sources used, and the retention period for inferred profiles. GDPR transparency notices should describe the logic of interest profiling in accessible terms. Opt-out mechanisms for profiling-based advertising should be audited for functionality.

Full compliance analysis

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

Track 1 platform — free Try Watcher free for 14 days

Free: track 1 platform + weekly digest. Watcher: 10 platforms + same-day alerts. No credit card required.

Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has oversight authority over consumer profiling and behavioral advertising practices under the FTC Act's unfair or deceptive practices framework.
    File a complaint →

Applicable regulations

EU AI Act
European Union
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
UK GDPR
United Kingdom

Provision details

Document information
Document
Pinterest Privacy Policy
Entity
Pinterest
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
April 27, 2026
Last verified
May 12, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-010897
Document ID
CA-D-00098
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
c1bbcbcc2602f2e5ebdf8f851d42a6a1a8fe73899b6fe40268e16ef95ffa88d1
Analysis generated
April 27, 2026 12:16 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Pinterest
Document: Pinterest Privacy Policy
Record ID: CA-P-010897
Captured: 2026-04-27 12:16:26 UTC
SHA-256: c1bbcbcc2602f2e5…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/pinterest/pinterest-privacy-policy/inferred-interest-data-and-personalization/
Accessed: May 13, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

Other risks in this policy

Related Analysis

Professional Governance Intelligence

Need to monitor specific governance provisions?

Professional includes provision-level monitoring, governance timelines, regulatory mapping, and audit-ready analysis.

Arbitration clauses AI governance Data rights Indemnification Retention policies
Start Professional free trial

Or start with Watcher →

Built from archived source documents, structured governance mappings, and historical version tracking.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Pinterest's Inferred Interest Data and Personalization clause do?

The policy states that Pinterest builds inferred interest profiles using both on-platform and off-platform activity data, which means the data used to target you reflects a combination of your Pinterest behavior and your broader online activity as observed through partner integrations.

How does this clause affect you?

This provision authorizes Pinterest to derive inferred interest and preference profiles from your activity data, which directly determines the ads and content recommendations you receive; users wishing to limit this profiling may do so through ad personalization settings, though the policy does not specify whether all inference categories can be fully excluded.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Pinterest?

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