When you contribute anything to Waze (such as map edits, reported accidents, or comments), you give Waze a permanent, free, worldwide right to use, modify, and share that content in any way, without paying you.
This analysis describes what Waze'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 license is perpetual and irrevocable, meaning it survives account deletion or service termination, and covers derivative works, which means Waze can build new products or features using your contributed data without further consent or compensation.
Any map corrections, hazard reports, or other content you submit to Waze become subject to a permanent, royalty-free license that Waze retains even after you stop using the service. This provision affects all users who contribute content to the Waze platform.
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By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distri...
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"By submitting or posting Content on the Service, you grant Waze a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, sublicensable, worldwide license to use, copy, modify, adapt, translate, publicly perform, publicly display, store, reproduce, transmit, distribute and create derivative works of such Content, in any form, media or technology whether now known or hereafter developed, for the purposes of operating, developing, providing, and promoting the Service.— Excerpt from Waze's Waze Terms of Use
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision implicates intellectual property law across all operating jurisdictions. For EU users, the scope of the license may engage GDPR where contributed content contains personal data (e.g., location-tagged reports), requiring a separate lawful basis for processing under GDPR Article 6 in addition to contractual licensing. The FTC may evaluate whether the license terms constitute a material term requiring clear and conspicuous disclosure under the FTC Act. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The perpetual and irrevocable nature of the license creates ongoing intellectual property obligations for users who later wish to retract or limit use of contributed content. Organizations with employees regularly contributing data should assess whether proprietary information could be captured under this license. JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU/EEA users may have data subject rights under GDPR that interact with this license where contributed content constitutes personal data. The irrevocability of the license may face scrutiny under consumer contract fairness doctrines in EU member states (Directive 93/13/EEC). UK consumer contract regulations may similarly limit enforceability of irrevocable terms against individual consumers. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Organizations deploying Waze for business purposes should evaluate whether employee map contributions constitute a transfer of business-relevant data under this license. The sublicensable nature of the license means Waze may pass contributed content to third parties, including Google affiliates, without additional notice. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should map what categories of user-contributed content are captured by this provision and whether any such content could constitute personal data requiring a separate GDPR lawful basis. Data mapping updates and employee usage policies may be warranted for organizations in regulated industries.
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The license is perpetual and irrevocable, meaning it survives account deletion or service termination, and covers derivative works, which means Waze can build new products or features using your contributed data without further consent or compensation.
Any map corrections, hazard reports, or other content you submit to Waze become subject to a permanent, royalty-free license that Waze retains even after you stop using the service. This provision affects all users who contribute content to the Waze platform.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 26 platforms. See the full comparison.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Waze.