Meta Privacy Policy Review
This review explains Meta’s Privacy Policy in plain language, for people who use Facebook, Instagram, or Messenger, and for parents of teens. It was last checked on October 31, 2026. The policy in effect is still the July 23, 2026 version. The United States regional notice and the “learn more” pages linked from the AI update were not fully opened. This is not legal advice.
Primary source: Meta Privacy Policy, including the printable version.
Snapshot
- Covers Meta Products, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and AI at Meta. It also covers Meta Quest if you log in with a Meta account.
- The July 23, 2026 update adds agentic AI, meaning tools you can direct to take actions such as booking a restaurant or sending an email.
- Information shared with AI at Meta features is used to improve AI at Meta unless you have objected.
- Meta says it does not sell your information, and it still provides advertisers with reports about who sees and engages with ads.
- Deleting an account can take up to 90 days, plus up to another 90 days to clear backups.
- Supervision tools exist for a teen account, with a supervisor the teen chooses, such as a parent.
Ten-minute Meta privacy check
Each of these settings is named in Meta’s own policy. Do them once on your account, and once with each teen or older relative you help.
- Turn off ads based on activity on other sites. In Ad preferences, find the setting for ads based on your activity on other websites and apps, and turn it off. Meta’s own example: a shopper who does not want ads based on stores she visited elsewhere “can make sure that this setting is turned off.”
- Remove interests. Ad preferences also shows the interests Meta has assigned to you, such as “music.” You can see them and remove the ones you do not want.
- Hide a specific advertiser. Use the Advertisers setting to stop ads from one company without changing anything else.
- Review Apps and Websites. Apps you signed into with Facebook Login, or connected to Instagram, can keep reading your non-public information. Meta says that access ends only if it appears you have not used the app in 90 days, and the app can keep what it already collected. Remove the ones you no longer use.
- Check Accounts Center. This is where you choose whether information is combined across Facebook, Instagram and other Meta accounts.
- Check cookie settings. These control collection of activity on other websites and apps that use Meta’s business tools.
What they collect
The policy says Meta collects information from different sources. You can choose whether certain information is used in Accounts Center, including whether information is combined across accounts on different Products, and in cookie settings, including activity on other websites and apps that use Meta’s business tools.
For AI features, the policy lists prompts, which can include questions, messages, media, and other information you or others share with those features; the responses you receive; information about actions the features take, including data they access or share to take those actions; feedback; and information used to personalize the features. It also lists information from third-party apps you connect.
The policy also says videos shared with Meta Companies can help train products to recognize objects and activities, and tools that let people create images and videos.
Who gets the data
The printable policy says, “We don’t sell your information, and we never will,” and that partners and other third parties must follow rules on how they can use information Meta provides. Advertisers receive reports with aggregated statistics about the people who see and engage with their ads. The policy also lists advertisers, publishers, app developers, and device makers as examples of partners. The United States regional notice is the page Meta points to for Personal Information handling and rights.
Meta also advertises its own products on other ad networks. If it uses your activity on its products to tailor those ads, the policy says you can opt out, and points web users to the Digital Advertising Alliance opt-out.
Deleting your account or posts
- After you start deleting an account or content, Meta says it can take up to 90 days to delete it, and up to another 90 days to remove it from backups and disaster-recovery systems.
- Posts left in the Facebook trash or the Instagram Recently Deleted folder start deleting automatically after 30 days. Empty the trash to start right away.
- Once an account is permanently deleted, you cannot reactivate it or get your posts back. Download a copy first if you want the photos.
- Meta can keep some information longer where the policy’s “How long do we keep your information?” section allows, such as for legal reasons.
For a relative who has died, Facebook’s memorialization and legacy contact options are covered in our digital legacy planning guide.
Easy to miss
- “We never sell” is not the same as “advertisers learn nothing.” They get reports about audiences and engagement.
- AI improvement is on unless you object. The policy states that. The click-path for the objection is on a “learn more” page that was not opened for this review, so this page does not invent the menu name.
- Agentic AI can be directed to send an email or book a table. The policy says Meta collects the data those features access or share to take the action. That is a wider permission than a chatbot that only answers in the app.
- An old quiz or game you logged into with Facebook years ago may still have access if you used it in the last 90 days, and it keeps what it already collected even after access ends.
New technology
The July 23, 2026 change notice is the clearest new-technology flag in this review. Meta added details about AI integrations, personalizing AI experiences, and agentic AI. The example Meta gives is a tool you direct to book a restaurant or send an email. Information shared with those features is used to improve AI at Meta unless you have objected.
Prompts can include media, not only text. If a teen uploads a photo to an AI feature, that upload is in the category the policy describes as collected.
Kids and families
Supervision, as described in the policy, gives supervisors chosen by a teen, such as parents and guardians, tools and insights for a teen account. That is not the same as a secret parent login. The teen chooses the supervisor. For the current Instagram settings, see our Instagram Teen Accounts guide.
A minimum age and a children’s policy were not quoted from the pages opened for this review. Do not treat this page as the rule for under-13 accounts.
Older adults
Marketplace, Messenger, and ad-click chats are common places for impersonation. Meta will not need your password to “fix” an account by phone. Privacy controls the policy names are Accounts Center, Ad preferences and cookie settings, used while you are signed in, not a code read to a caller.
What this means for you
The 2026 change that matters for a family is not a small wording edit. Meta now describes AI that can act for you, and it says information shared with those features is used to improve its AI unless you object. Read that before a teen, or an older adult, connects an inbox or a calendar. The quickest wins are the ad setting for activity on other sites and a clean-out of old apps under Apps and Websites.
Does Meta sell personal information?
The policy says Meta does not sell your information and never will. It also says advertisers receive reports about the people who see and engage with ads. Those are different statements. Both are in the current policy.
How do I stop Facebook ads based on other websites?
Open Ad preferences and turn off the setting for ads based on your activity on other websites and apps. You will still see ads, but Meta’s policy says they will not be chosen from that outside activity.
How long does it take Meta to delete my account?
Up to 90 days after deletion starts, and up to another 90 days to clear backups, according to the policy.
Are AI chats used to train Meta’s AI?
The update notice says information shared with AI at Meta features is used to improve AI at Meta unless you have objected. The objection steps were not on the summary page opened for this review.
This is not legal advice. Last checked October 31, 2026. The policy was effective July 23, 2026.
Back to Privacy Policies Watch
Where this information comes from: This guide is built from official sources, such as U.S. government consumer agencies and the companies’ own help pages and policies, linked in the guide where they are used. I looked it over myself before publishing. I’m not a lawyer or a security professional; like many parents and caregivers, I’m learning as I go, so check the official source before a big decision. How these guides are made.
