Steam shares both anonymous and aggregated data with third parties, and also collects personal data from your communications on the platform including forum posts, chats, and user-generated content.
This analysis describes what Steam'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
The provision distinguishes between anonymous/aggregated data sharing, which the terms permit broadly, and personal data collection, which occurs through explicit user submission or active participation in Steam's communication channels. This establishes the operational scope of Valve's data handling practices across different data categories.
The removal of this general third-party sharing provision is replaced by more specific provisions, indicating a reorganization toward clearer disclosure of data sharing practices.
View full change record →Your aggregated usage data and communications on Steam (forums, chats, user content) are collected and can be shared with unspecified third parties, with the risk that 'anonymous' data could be re-identified when combined with other data sources.
How other platforms handle this
We may share your personal information with third parties in the following circumstances: With service providers who perform services on our behalf, such as data analytics, marketing, customer service, and technology services. With financial partners, including banks, brokerage firms, and payment pr...
We may share your information with third parties that perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service, and marketing assistance. We may also share your information with business partners who offer products or services that...
We may also share your personal information with third parties that assist us in providing our services, or where we are under an obligation to report to. But rest assured: we will only ever share your personal information in the limited circumstances described in this Policy.
Monitoring
Steam has changed this document before.
Receive same-day alerts, structured change summaries, and monitoring for up to 25 platforms.
"Valve may share anonymous data, aggregated or not, with third parties. We will collect and process Personal Data whenever you explicitly provide it to us or send it as part of communication with others on Steam, e.g. in Steam Community Forums, chats, or when you provide feedback or other user generated content.— Excerpt from Steam's Steam Privacy Policy
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: GDPR Art. 4(5) defines pseudonymization but notes that data capable of re-identification remains personal data subject to the full Regulation. The claim that aggregated/anonymous data does not allow identification is potentially contested under GDPR Recital 26, which requires assessing re-identification risk. CCPA §1798.140 applies similarly — 'deidentified' data requires reasonable measures to prevent re-identification (§1798.145(a)(5)). FTC Act Section 5 applies to deceptive anonymization claims.
Full compliance analysis
Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.
Free: track 1 platform + weekly digest. Monitor: 25 platforms + same-day alerts. No credit card required.
ConductAtlas detected a major restructuring of Meta’s privacy policy that removed detailed consumer rights disclosures and relocated them to separate documents.
Your genetic data may be transferred to a new owner as a business asset. Here is what the Terms of Service actually say and what you can do right now.
Compliance Governance Intelligence
Need to monitor specific governance provisions?
Compliance includes provision-level monitoring, governance timelines, regulatory mapping, and audit-ready analysis.
Built from archived source documents, structured governance mappings, and historical version tracking.
The provision distinguishes between anonymous/aggregated data sharing, which the terms permit broadly, and personal data collection, which occurs through explicit user submission or active participation in Steam's communication channels. This establishes the operational scope of Valve's data handling practices across different data categories.
Your aggregated usage data and communications on Steam (forums, chats, user content) are collected and can be shared with unspecified third parties, with the risk that 'anonymous' data could be re-identified when combined with other data sources.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Steam.