Privacy Policy
Effective from 27 May 2025 | View printable version | See previous versions
Read the full Policy below.
What information do we collect?
The information that we collect and process about you depends on how you use our Products. For example, we collect different information if you sell furniture on Marketplace than if you post a reel on Instagram. When you use our products, we collect some information about you even if you don’t have an account.
Here’s the information we collect:
What if you don’t let us collect certain information?
Some information is required for our products to work. Other information is optional, but without it, the quality of your experience might be affected.
What if the information that we collect doesn’t identify individuals?
In some cases information is de-identified, aggregated or anonymised by third parties so that it no longer identifies individuals before it’s made available to us. We use this information as described below without trying to re-identify individuals.
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How do we use your information?
We use information we collect to provide a personalised experience to you, including ads (if we show you ads on Meta Products), along with the other purposes we explain in detail below.
For some of these purposes, we use information across our Products from the accounts that you choose to add to your Accounts Centre and across your devices. The information that we use for these purposes is automatically processed by our systems. But in some cases, we also use manual review to access and review your information.
To use less information that’s connected to individual users, in some cases we de-identify or aggregate information or anonymise it so that it no longer identifies you. We use this information in the same ways we use your information as described in this section.
Here are the ways we use your information:
To provide, personalise and improve our Products
We use information that we have to provide and improve our Products. This includes personalising features, content and recommendations, such as your Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed, Stories and ads (if we show you ads on Meta Products). We use information with special protections that you choose to provide for these purposes, but not to show you ads.
Read more about how we use information to provide, personalise and improve our Products:
To promote safety, security and integrity
We use the information we collect to help protect people from harm and provide safe, secure Products.
To provide measurement, analytics and business services
To communicate with you
We communicate with you using information you’ve given us, such as contact information you’ve entered on your profile.
We use information we have, information from researchers and datasets from publicly available sources, professional groups and charitable groups to conduct and support research.
On Meta Products
With integrated partners
You can choose to connect with integrated partners who use our Products. If you do, these integrated partners receive information about you and your activity.
These integrated partners can always access information that’s public on our Products. Learn more about other information they receive and how they handle your information:
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Manage apps and websites
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We don’t sell any of your information to anyone and we never will. We also require partners and other third parties to follow rules about how they can and cannot use and disclose the information that we provide.
Partners
Vendors
Service providers
Third parties
Other third parties
And if we sell or transfer all or part of our business to someone else, in some cases, we’ll give the new owner your information as part of that transaction, but only as the law allows.
How do the Meta Companies work together?
We are part of the Meta Companies that provide Meta Company Products. Meta Company Products include all of the Meta Products covered by this Policy, plus other products, such as WhatsApp and more.
More resources
How long do we keep your information for?
We keep information for as long as we need it to provide our products, comply with legal obligations or to protect our or other’s interests. We decide how long we need information on a case-by-case basis. Here’s what we consider when we decide:
- If we need it to operate or provide our products. For example, we need to keep some of your information to maintain your account. Learn more.
- The feature that we use it for and how that feature works. For example, messages sent using Messenger’s vanish mode are retained for less time than regular messages. Learn more.
- How long we need to retain the information for to comply with certain legal obligations. See some examples.
- If we need it for other legitimate purposes, such as to prevent harm; investigate possible violations of our terms or policies; promote safety, security and integrity; or protect ourselves, including our rights, property or products
In some instances and for specific reasons, we’ll keep information for an extended period of time. Read our Policy about when we may preserve your information.
How do we transfer information?
How will you know that the Policy has changed?
We’ll notify you before we make material changes to this Policy. You’ll have the opportunity to review the revised Policy before you choose to continue using our products.
How to contact Meta with questions
The data controller responsible for your information is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, which you can contact online or by writing to:
Meta Platforms Ireland Limited
Merrion Road
Dublin 4
D04 X2K5, Ireland
Contact the Data Protection Officer for Meta Platforms Ireland Limited.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with Meta Platforms Ireland’s lead supervisory authority, the Irish Data Protection Commission or your local supervisory authority.
We process information as described below when you have given us your consent to do so, which we may ask through in-product experiences, to enable particular features or to enable device-based settings. The categories of information we use, and why and how they are processed are set out below:
| Why and how we process your information | Information categories that we use (see ” What Information do we collect?” for more details on each information category). The actual information that we use depends on your factual circumstances, but could include any of the following: |
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| Your activity and information that you provide: - Any information with special protections that you choose to provide, such as your religious views, your sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs or trade union membership, or as part of surveys that you choose to participate in, and where you have given your explicit consent | |
| Personalising ads on the Meta Products: If we show you ads on Meta Products, our ads system automatically processes information that we’ve collected and stored associated with you. In accordance with your ad settings, our ads system uses this information to understand your interests and your preferences and personalise your ads across the Meta Products. Learn more about your ad settings. Our ads system prioritises what ad to show you based on what audience advertisers want to reach. Then, we match the ad to people who might be interested. Learn more about how our ads system works. Learn more about how we choose the ads that you see. You can change your choice at any time in your Ad preferences. | Friends, followers and other connections |
| Information from partners, vendors and third parties | |
| Collecting information that you allow us to receive through the device-based settings you enable (such as access to your GPS location, camera or photos) which we use to provide the features or services described when you enable the setting. | App, browser and device information: - Information from device settings |
| Verifying your identity or account, or helping to protect against suspicious activity, including impersonation and identity misuse, using face analysis which may include facial recognition technology if you select it. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Your account information, profile photo or - your photo or video selfie, if you choose to provide it |
When we process information that you provide to us based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal. You also have the right to port that information that you provide to us based on your consent. To exercise your rights, visit your device-based settings, and visit the Facebook settings and Instagram settings and our Help Centres.
Performance of a contract
For all people who have the legal capacity to enter into an enforceable contract (for example, by being the age of majority or above in their country of residence), we process information as necessary to conclude and perform our contracts with you (the Meta Terms and Instagram Terms, the Supplemental Meta Platforms Technologies Terms of Service, the Supplemental Portal Terms of Service, the Meta AI Terms of Service and the Supplemental Meta View Terms of Service, together, the “terms”). The purposes for which we process information for our contracts, the categories of information that we use and how information is processed are set out below:
| Why and how we process your information | Information categories that we use (see ” What Information do we collect?” for more details on each information category). The actual information that we use depends on your factual circumstances, but could include any of the following: |
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| - Personalise features and content (such as your Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed and Stories); and - Make suggestions for you (such as people that you may know, groups or events that you may be interested in or topics that you may want to follow) on and off our Products. | Friends, followers and other connections Information from partners, vendors and third parties |
| Providing and improving our Meta Products: The provision of the Meta Products includes collecting, storing and, where relevant, sharing, profiling, reviewing and curating, and in some instances not only automated processing but also manual (human) reviewing, to: We also use the information we have to develop, research and test improvements to our Products. We use information we collect to: - See if a product is working correctly - Troubleshoot and fix it when it’s not - Try out new products and features to see if they work - Get feedback on our ideas for products or features - Conduct surveys and other research about what you like about our Products and brands, and what we can do better | Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio - Your public information (including your name, username and profile picture) - Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features - Messages that you send and receive, including their content, subject to applicable law - Metadata about content and messages - Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it - Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them - Purchases or other transactions that you make, including truncated credit card information - Hashtags you use - The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products - Your photo or video selfie if you provide it when you contact us for account support Friends, followers and other connections Information from partners, vendors and third parties |
| Promoting safety, integrity and security on and across the Meta Products: The Meta Products are designed to help ensure the safety, integrity and security of those services and those people who enjoy them. We process the information that we have associated with you and apply automated processing techniques and, in some instances, conduct manual (human) review to: For more information on safety, integrity and security generally on Meta Products, visit the Facebook Security Help Centre and Instagram Security Tips. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio - Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features - Messages that you send and receive, including their content, subject to applicable law - Metadata about content and messages - Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it - Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them - Purchases or other transactions that you make, including truncated credit card information - Hashtags you use - The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products - Your photo or video selfie if you provide it when you contact us for account support Friends, followers and other connections Information from partners, vendors and third parties |
| To communicate with you: We use the information you’ve given us (e.g. contact information on your profile) to send you a communication, such as an email or in-product notice, for example: We also use contact information such as your email address to respond when you contact us. | |
| Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio - Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features - Metadata about content and messages - Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it - Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them - Purchases or other transactions that you make, including truncated credit card information - Hashtags you use - The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products - Your photo or video selfie if you provide it when you contact us for account support Friends, followers and other connections Information from partners, vendors and third parties |
We’ll use the information that we have to provide these services; if you choose not to provide certain information (other than limited account information, which is necessary to create a Facebook account or an Instagram account), your experience using the Meta Products may be affected. For example, you may see less relevant recommendations on the Products, or your use of the Products may be restricted.
When we process information that you provide to us as necessary for concluding or performing our contracts with you, you have the right to port it under the GDPR. To exercise your rights, visit the Facebook settings and Instagram settings, or learn more in our Help Centre.
Compliance with a legal obligation
The categories of information we use, why we process your information based on compliance with a legal obligation and how it’s processed are set out below:
| Why and how we process your information | Information categories that we use (see ” What Information do we collect?” for more details on each information category). The actual information that we use depends on your factual circumstances, but could include any of the following: |
|---|---|
| The way in which the information will be processed depends on the specific circumstances, see How do we respond to legal requests, prevent harm and promote safety and integrity? for more details. Information for Law Enforcement Authorities provides information on the operational guidelines that law enforcement needs to follow. Examples of Irish and EU laws enforceable in Ireland that could give rise to an obligation requiring us to process the information that we hold about you are: - Civil and commercial matters: where we are in receipt of a court order or otherwise required to disclose information for the purposes of court proceedings, such as under Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters. - Criminal matters: to comply with requests from Irish law enforcement to provide information in relation to an investigation, such as under Section 10 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1997 as amended by 6(1)(a) of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, or to take steps to report information to law enforcement where required. - Consumer matters: to comply with our obligations under consumer law such as the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014. - Corporate and taxation matters: to comply with our obligations such as the Companies Act 2014. - Regulatory matters: to comply with our obligations to engage with regulators, such as the Data Protection Commission under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. - Financial matters: to comply with our obligations under applicable financial services law such as the European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018 View the current list of laws which are enforceable in Ireland that give rise to a legal obligation for Meta which results in the processing of information. New laws may be enacted or other obligations may become binding on our processing of your information, which may require us to process your information, and we will update this list from time to time. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio - Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features - Messages that you send and receive, including their content, subject to applicable law - Metadata about content and messages - Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it - Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them - Purchases or other transactions that you make, including truncated credit card information - Hashtags you use - The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products - Your photo or video selfie if you provide it when you contact us for account support Friends, followers and other connections Information from partners, vendors and third parties |
Legitimate interests
We rely on our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, where they are not outweighed by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms (“legitimate interests”). The categories of information that we use, the legitimate interests relied on and why and how it’s processed are set out below:
Why and how we process your information | Legitimate interests relied on | Information categories that we use (see " What Information do we collect?" for more details on each information category). The actual information that we use depends on your factual circumstances, but could include any of the following: |
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For people under the age of majority (under 18, in most applicable countries) who have a limited ability to enter into an enforceable contract only, where we may be unable to process your information on the grounds of contractual necessity. | ||
Learn more about how we use information about you to personalise your experience on and across Meta Products, and how we choose the ads that you see. |
| Information from partners, vendors and third parties (other than using partner data to tailor ads to you) |
Providing and improving our Meta Products: The provision of the Meta Products includes collecting, storing and, where relevant, sharing, profiling, reviewing and curating, automated processing, and in some instances, manual (human) reviewing, to: We also use the information we have to develop, research and test improvements to our Products. We use information we collect to:
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Promoting safety, integrity and security on and across the Meta Products: The Meta Products are designed to help ensure the safety, integrity and security of those services and those people who enjoy them. We process the information that we have associated with you and apply automated processing techniques and, in some instances, conduct manual (human) review to: For more information on safety, integrity and security generally on the Meta Products, visit the Facebook Security Help Centre and Instagram Security Tips. | ||
Communicating with you: We use the information you've given us (e.g. contact information you've entered on your profile) to send you a communication, such as an email or in-product notice, for example: We also use contact information such as your email address to respond to you when you contact us. | ||
For all people, including those under the age of majority | ||
Providing measurement, analytics and other business services to businesses and other partners: Our systems automatically, as well as with some manual (human) processing, process information that we've collected and stored about you and others. We use this information to:
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If we show you ads on Meta Products: Providing measurement, analytics and other business services to businesses, advertisers and other partners: Our systems automatically, as well as with some manual (human) processing, process information that we've collected and stored about you and others. We use this information to:
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Communicating, engaging and sharing across the Meta Company Products:
| In our interest to provide seamless, consistent, richer, innovative communication, engagement and sharing experiences across Meta Company Products. | |
Business intelligence and analytics: | In our interest to measure the use of our Products and count the people who interact with our Products in order to inform and improve product direction and development and to enable provision of accurate and reliable reporting. | |
Providing marketing communications to you: | In our interest to promote Meta Company Products and send our direct marketing. |
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Learn more about our research programmes. | ||
Anonymising your information In some cases, we anonymise information that we have about you, such as your activity on and off our Products, and use the resulting information, for example, to provide and improve our Meta Products, including ads. | ||
However, the information we process will depend on the purposes, which could include the following:
Learn more about how we promote safety, security and integrity. | ||
Promote safety, integrity and security in limited circumstances outside of the performance of our contracts with you:
To learn more, visit the Facebook Security Help Centre and Instagram Security Tips. | ||
Sharing your contact, profile or other information with third parties upon your request: |
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Develop and improve artificial intelligence technology (also called AI at Meta) on Meta Products and for third parties. | ||
For people over the age of majority (aged 18 or over, in most applicable countries) | ||
Develop and improve artificial intelligence technology (also called AI at Meta) on Meta Products and for third parties. | ||
Promote safety, integrity and security:
To learn more, visit the Facebook Security Help Centre and Instagram Security Tips. |
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Providing marketing communications to you: We'll collect and store your information and use it to send marketing communications to you, such as an email address. | In our interest to promote Meta Company Products and send our direct marketing. |
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Learn more about our research programmes. |
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However, the information we process will depend on the purposes, which could include the following:
Learn more about how we promote safety, security and integrity. |
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Provide and improve our Products: We use information we collect to:
| To improve the Meta Company Products in a consistent manner, to correct technical glitches and to optimise functionality. | |
When we process your information as necessary to pursue our legitimate interests or those of a third party, you have the right to object to, and seek restriction of, such processing; to exercise your right, visit the Facebook settings and the Help Centre and Instagram settings.
We will consider several factors when assessing an objection, including: our users’ reasonable expectations; the benefits and risks to you, us, other users or third parties; and other available means to achieve the same purpose that may be less invasive and do not require disproportionate effort. Unless we find that we have compelling legitimate grounds for this processing that are not outweighed by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms or the processing is needed for legal reasons, your objection will be upheld and we will cease processing your information. To learn more about the circumstances in which an objection may be successful, please visit the Help Centre.
If you are under the age of majority in your country and there is no enforceable contract in place, we will take particular account of the fact that you are below the age of majority when conducting our assessment of our legitimate interests and the balancing of your interests and rights. We provide specific protections for people below the age of majority to ensure that they are aware of the risks, consequences, safeguards and rights associated with the processing of their information.
Tasks carried out in the public interest
The purposes for which we anticipate processing your information as a task in the public interest, the processing we undertake and the information that we use is set out below:
| Why and how we process your information | Information categories that we use (see ” What Information do we collect?” for more details on each information category). The actual information that we use depends on your factual circumstances, but could include any of the following: |
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| Undertaking research for social good: We collect, store, combine, analyse and apply automatic processing techniques, such as aggregation to information, as well as manual (human) review as necessary to undertake research and other tasks in the public interest, such as sharing relevant research data with third parties, for example, international organisations and academics both in and outside the EEA. The public interest is required to be laid down in Union law or Member State law or other applicable law to which we are subject. In this case, we rely on Articles 168 and 179 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. | Friends, followers and other connections Information from partners, vendors and third parties |
| To promote safety, integrity and security: In limited fact-specific circumstances, we will access, preserve and share your information with regulators, law enforcement or others where necessary to perform a task in the public interest. For example, we might share information with others for the purposes of combating unlawful or harmful behaviour where it is in the public interest to do so and where the public interest is laid down in Union law or Member State law or other applicable law to which we are subject. In this case, we rely on Section 53 of the Data Protection Act 2018 and Regulation (EU) 2021/1232. | Friends, followers and other connections Information from Partners, vendors and third parties |
When we process your information as necessary for a task carried out in the public interest, you have the right to object to, and seek restriction of, our processing. To exercise your rights, visit the Facebook settings and the Help Centre and Instagram settings. In assessing an objection, we will consider several factors, including: our users’ reasonable user expectations; the benefits and risks to you, us, other users or third parties; and other available means to achieve the same purpose that may be less invasive and do not require disproportionate effort.
Your objection will be upheld, and we will cease processing your information, unless we find that we have compelling legitimate grounds for this processing that are not outweighed by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms or the processing is needed for legal reasons. To learn more about the circumstances in which an objection may be successful, please visit the Help Centre.
Protection of your vital interests or that of another person
The categories of information we use, why we process your information to protect your vital interests or those of another person and how it’s processed are set out below
| Why and how we process your information | Information categories that we use (see ” What Information do we collect?” for more details on each information category). The actual information that we use depends on your factual circumstances, but could include any of the following: |
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| Protecting the vital interests of you and/or those of another person: We apply automated processing techniques, conduct manual (human) review and share information, including with law enforcement and others, in circumstances where someone’s vital interests require protection, such as in the case of emergencies. These vital interests include protection of your life, physical or mental health, well-being or integrity or that of others, and detecting, removing and reporting illegal content. In protecting such vital interests, we aim to combat harmful conduct and promote safety, integrity and security, including, for example, when we are investigating reports of harmful conduct or taking appropriate action, such as sharing information with relevant authorities, when someone needs help. | Your activity and information that you provide: - Content that you create, such as posts, comments or audio - Content that you provide through our camera feature or your camera roll settings, or through our voice-enabled features - Messages that you send and receive, including their content, subject to applicable law - Metadata about content and messages - Types of content that you view or interact with, and how you interact with it - Apps and features that you use and what actions you take in them - Purchases or other transactions that you make, including truncated credit card information - Hashtags you use - The time, frequency and duration of your activities on our Products - Your photo or video selfie if you provide it when you contact us for account support Friends, followers and other connections Information from partners, vendors and third parties |