Whatnot keeps your personal data for as long as it needs to, which could include indefinitely for legal or fraud-related reasons, without specifying fixed retention periods.
This analysis describes what Whatnot'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 absence of specific retention periods means your personal data, including purchase history and financial information, may be held indefinitely under broad business or legal justifications.
Interpretive note: The policy does not specify retention periods by data category, making it unclear whether retention practices fully comply with GDPR storage limitation requirements or CCPA disclosure obligations.
The updated Influencer Engagement Agreement now requires all disputes between influencers and Whatnot to be resolved through binding arbitration under the Terms of Service Section 21, rather than through California state or federal courts. This replaces the previous language permitting influencers to pursue legal claims in Los Angeles courts and waives jury trial rights. The agreement also removes language that explicitly limited dispute resolution to claims arising solely from the Influencer Agreement, extending arbitration to disputes relating to Whatnot Platform use and the influencer-platform relationship.
View change record →The new Australian Creator Program Terms establish binding legal requirements for creators submitting video content and promotional codes. Creators grant Whatnot a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable license to use submitted videos across platforms (organic and paid social media, television, in-app, websites, and more) for one year from submission. The terms require creators to comply with Australian Consumer Law, AANA ethical standards, and AiMCO guidelines, with explicit disclosure requirements when promoting Whatnot or affiliated products. Rewards for approved Shopping Hauls submissions are issued within 30 business days of receiving both ad codes and raw video. You can review the specific disclosure and content standards on the Program Page before submitting content.
View change record →Under the updated agreement, Australian sellers can no longer resolve disputes through court proceedings in Los Angeles. Instead, all disputes related to the Whatnot platform or the seller relationship must be resolved through mandatory individual arbitration under Whatnot's main Terms of Service. The updated terms eliminate the jury trial waiver provision and replace court access with binding arbitration, with limited exceptions only as expressly permitted in the main Terms of Service.
View change record →New provision establishing indefinite data retention without specific timelines, potentially allowing long-term storage of user data.
View full change record →The removal of this provision eliminates specific disclosure about data retention periods and purposes, reducing user understanding of how long their data will be kept.
View full change record →Your personal data may be retained for extended periods beyond the active life of your account, and the policy does not commit to specific deletion timelines for most data categories.
How other platforms handle this
to request that your data be transferred to a third party (data portability)
Your organization may allow you to access and export your data in order to back it up or transfer it to a service outside of Google.
Further, you may take legal actions in relation to any potential breach of your rights regarding the processing of your Personal Information, as well as to lodge complaints before the competent data prot...
"We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements, to establish or defend legal claims, or for fraud prevention purposes.Excerpt from Whatnot's Legal Terms
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: GDPR Article 5(1)(e) requires that personal data be kept no longer than necessary for the purposes for which it is processed (storage limitation principle), and that specific retention periods be documented and disclosed.
Enforcement risk, jurisdiction flags, contract triggers, and due diligence action items.
Ad personalization controls removed. Contact scanning added. Advertiser data partnerships quietly dropped. A timeline of every change.
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The absence of specific retention periods means your personal data, including purchase history and financial information, may be held indefinitely under broad business or legal justifications.
Your personal data may be retained for extended periods beyond the active life of your account, and the policy does not commit to specific deletion timelines for most data categories.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 290 platforms. See the full comparison.
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