Most families use at least four of these seven companies every day. We read each company’s own privacy policy and put the answers to the questions parents and older adults ask most into one table: do they sell your data, is it used to train AI, how are children’s accounts handled, and where is the switch to turn ad tracking down. Every answer below comes from the policy text itself, not from news coverage or our opinion of the company. Policies checked September 23, 2026; scorecard compiled October 25, 2026.
The short version
Six of the seven policies say the company does not sell your personal information. Walmart’s says some disclosures may count as a sale or share under state law, and offers an opt-out. Only Apple’s policy says plainly that private personal data is not used to train its AI models. Meta’s says information shared with its AI features is used to improve its AI unless you object. Every company uses your activity in some way for advertising, so “we don’t sell” never means “nothing is shared.”
| Company | Sells personal data? | Private data used to train AI? | Children’s accounts | Main switch to turn down ad tracking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | Says no. Also says it does not share with third parties for their own marketing. | Says no. “Your private personal data is not used to train our foundational AI models.” Public web pages are crawled. | Child account for under 13 with verifiable parental consent. | Turn off Personalized Ads. Apple’s ad platform says it does not track you across third-party apps. |
| Microsoft | Not stated as a sale. Ad data can be shared; Global Privacy Control turns off third-party ad sharing in certain places. | Not covered in the sections we read. Says email, chats, calls and personal files are not used to target ads, and Click to Do stays on the device unless you choose otherwise. | Family Safety; parental consent for under 13, with optional activity reports. | Personalized ads opt-out page, plus the privacy dashboard to clear history. |
| Says no. Uses activity and location for ads; shares non-identifying data with partners. | Partly stated. Publicly available information helps train models such as Gemini. The policy does not say private Gmail is used. | Family Link account for under 13. | My Ad Center, plus turning off Web & App Activity, Search history and Timeline. | |
| Amazon | Says it is “not in the business of selling”. Sellers get order details; ad companies get identifiers. | Possible. Uses data to develop generative AI; training sets may include personal information in some cases. | Under 18 only with a parent or guardian; no knowing collection under 13 without consent. | Your Ads Privacy Choices. |
| TikTok | Says no, where the law restricts it. Shares with service providers, sellers, affiliates and researchers. | Not stated in the sections we read. Videos are analyzed for faces, bodies and speech. | Separate Under 13 Experience (under 14 in Florida); parents can request deletion. | Make the account private; do not share your email with sellers. |
| Meta | Says “we never will”. Advertisers get reports on who sees and engages with ads. | Yes, unless you object. Information shared with AI at Meta features is used to improve its AI. | Teen Supervision, with a supervisor the teen chooses. | Accounts Center (stop combining data across apps) and cookie settings. |
| Walmart | May count as a sale or share under state law for some categories; opt-out offered. | Listed as a use. The notice names “training our AI” among its uses. | Sites not directed to children; no knowing collection from children online. | Your Privacy Choices, or Global Privacy Control while logged in. |
Green means the policy states the protective answer. Amber means the answer is partial, conditional, or not covered in the sections we read. Red means the policy describes the less protective practice. Rows are ordered from most to least protective on the AI training question, then alphabetically.
What families should take from this
- “We don’t sell your data” is not the whole story. All seven use activity for advertising, and most share identifiers, reports or order details with partners. The privacy switch matters more than the slogan.
- AI is the newest gap. Before a teen or older relative connects an inbox, calendar or photos to an AI assistant, check whether that company uses the data to improve its AI and how to object. Meta’s policy says it does unless you object.
- Use the child account the company built. Every company that allows children has a dedicated child or teen setup. Handing a child an adult login skips those protections.
- Each company has one main switch. The last column is the setting to change first. Our Family Safety Checkup and Privacy Toolkit walk through more.
How we built this scorecard
We read each company’s current U.S. privacy policy or notice on its own website and wrote a plain-language review of it, linked from the company name above. This table summarizes those reviews. We only report what the policy text says. Where a section was not read in full, or the policy does not address a question, we say so rather than guess. We do not test the companies’ systems, and a policy describes what a company says it does, not an independent audit. We do not accept payment from any company listed, and no company reviewed this page before publication.
We recheck every policy at least every six months and will add more companies over time. If a policy changes, the review and this table are updated and the date above changes. Spot an error? Tell us through our contact page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I cite or share this scorecard?
Yes. Please link to this page and include the date the policies were checked, since policies change.
Why these seven companies?
They are among the services U.S. families use most for phones, shopping, search, email and social media. We started with the companies whose policies we had already reviewed in full.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is a plain-language summary of public documents. For your rights in your state, read the company’s state-specific notice or contact your state attorney general’s consumer protection office.
Sources
- Apple Privacy Policy, accessed September 23, 2026.
- Microsoft Privacy Statement, accessed September 23, 2026.
- Google Privacy Policy, accessed September 23, 2026.
- Amazon.com Privacy Notice, accessed September 23, 2026.
- TikTok U.S. Privacy Policy, accessed September 23, 2026.
- Meta Privacy Policy, accessed September 23, 2026.
- Walmart Customer Privacy Notice, accessed September 23, 2026.
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This scorecard is general information, not legal advice. It summarizes each company’s published policy as of the date checked. See our Disclaimer and Editorial Policy.