Snap Inc.
Snap grants itself extremely broad rights to your content, including perpetual and irrevocable licenses for public content. They use mandatory arbitration with class action waivers, can terminate accounts at will, and disclaim most liability. The terms also allow AI training on your content and extensive data collection for personalization.
The Bottom Line
Snap grants itself extremely broad rights to your content, including perpetual and irrevocable licenses for public content. They use mandatory arbitration with class action waivers, can terminate accounts at will, and disclaim most liability. The terms also allow AI training on your content and extensive data collection for personalization.
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Notable Clauses
“Because Public Content is inherently public, you grant Snap, our affiliates, other users of the Services, and our business partners an unrestricted, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, and perpetual right and license to create derivative works from, promote, exhibit, broadcast, syndicate, reproduc...”
“For all content you create using the Services, or submit or make available to the Services (including Public Content), you grant Snap and our affiliates a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, cache, use, display, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, publish, an...”
“ALL CLAIMS AND DISPUTES WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THIS ARBITRATION AGREEMENT MUST BE ARBITRATED OR LITIGATED ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT ON A CLASS BASIS. CLAIMS OF MORE THAN ONE CUSTOMER OR USER CANNOT BE ARBITRATED OR LITIGATED JOINTLY OR CONSOLIDATED WITH THOSE OF ANY OTHER CUSTOMER OR USER.”
“All Inputs and Outputs will be treated for the purpose of these Terms as content you submit to the Services and accordingly any rights and licenses granted to us and obligations on you in respect of content submitted or made available by you in these Terms applies to Inputs and Outputs, including th...”
“We may restrict, terminate, or temporarily suspend your access to the Services if you fail to comply with these Terms, our Community Guidelines or the law, for reasons outside of our control, or for any other reason.”
“THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" AND TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.”
“IN NO EVENT WILL OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICES EXCEED THE GREATER OF $100 USD OR THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE ACTIVITY GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM.”
“We will recommend content, advertising, and other information to you based on what we know and infer about your and others' interests from use of our Services. It is necessary for us to handle your personal information for this purpose, as we explain in our Privacy Policy .”
“We hope you'll understand any decisions we make about content or user accounts, but if you have any complaints or concerns, you can use the submission form available here or use available in-app options. If you use this process, your complaint must be submitted within six months of the relevant deci...”
“You may opt out of this Arbitration Agreement. If you do so, neither you nor Snap can force the other to arbitrate. To opt out, you must notify Snap in writing no later than 30 days after first becoming subject to this Arbitration Agreement; otherwise you shall be bound to arbitrate disputes on a no...”
Protect Yourself
ACTIONABLESettings and actions you can take to limit your exposure
Opt Out of Arbitration
Preserve your right to sue in court instead of being forced into arbitration. You only have 30 days from account creation to do this.
- Email arbitration-opt-out@snap.com within 30 days of creating your account
- Include your name, address, Snapchat username, and email address
- State clearly: 'I want to opt out of the Arbitration Agreement'
- Alternatively, mail to: Snap Inc., Attn: Arbitration Opt-out, 3000 31st Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Limit Content to Private Messages
Avoid the perpetual license by keeping content private instead of posting to public features like Stories, Spotlight, or Snap Map.
- Send Snaps directly to friends instead of posting to Your Story
- Avoid using Spotlight, Snap Map public features, or Public Profiles
- Check privacy settings before posting anything public
Turn Off Personalized Advertising
Reduce data profiling by limiting how Snapchat uses your information for ad targeting.
- Open Snapchat app and tap your profile icon
- Tap the gear icon for Settings
- Go to 'Privacy Controls' then 'Ad Preferences'
- Turn off 'Audience-based Advertising' and 'Activity-based Advertising'
Limit Location Data Collection
Reduce location tracking by turning off Snap Map and location-based features.
- Open Snapchat and pinch to zoom out to Snap Map
- Tap the gear icon in the top right
- Select 'Ghost Mode' to hide your location
- In Settings → Privacy Controls → See My Location, review and limit who can see your location
Download Your Data Regularly
Keep backups of your content since Snapchat can delete your account or Memories without notice.
- Go to accounts.snapchat.com on a computer
- Log in and click 'My Data'
- Click 'Submit Request' to download your data
- Save important Snaps and Memories to your device before they disappear
Use Content Appeals Process
If your content gets wrongly removed, use Snapchat's appeals system which actually reviews and can reverse decisions.
- When content is removed, look for appeal options in the notification
- Use in-app appeal forms if available
- Submit appeals within 6 months of the content decision
- Provide context about why the removal was incorrect
Better Alternatives in Social Media
These social media services scored lower (less crazy) on their terms
Disclaimer:The clauses shown above are excerpts from publicly available Terms of Service documents. Ratings and severity levels reflect community and AI assessment, not legal advice, factual claims, or determinations about a company's legality or intent. Clauses marked “VERIFIED” have been confirmed as exact quotes from the source document. Clauses marked “AI-extracted” were identified by AI and may contain errors. Always verify against the original TOS.
Get notified when Snap Inc. updates their TOS
We'll email you what changed and what it means
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.