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Bluesky vs Facebook

Side-by-side comparison of the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of Bluesky and Facebook.

Bluesky logo
Bluesky
Social
★★★☆☆
Mixed

Bluesky offers useful privacy rights, clear account deletion, transparency about public-by-design data, and says it does not sell personal data for targeted advertising. However, broad content licensing, unencrypted DMs, long/indefinite retention tied to legal and safety purposes, arbitration with class-action waiver, and limited deletion in a decentralized network make the service only moderately user-friendly.

Bluesky presents itself as a decentralized social network with relatively transparent policies and some meaningful user rights, but it also imposes standard platform protections. User posts remain owned by users, yet broad licenses apply, most activity is public by design, direct messages are unencrypted, disputes generally go to arbitration, and deletion may be incomplete across the wider AT Protocol network.

Points of interest

  • negative ●●●●● privacy
    DMs stored unencrypted

    Direct messages are not end-to-end encrypted and may be accessed for trust and safety purposes. Users should not treat Bluesky DMs as highly confidential communications.

  • negative ●●●●○ privacy
    Most activity is public

    Posts, profile, likes, follows, and blocks are public by design. This makes social graph and activity data broadly visible rather than private by default.

  • negative ●●●●○ terms
    Deletion may be incomplete

    Even if you delete your account, copies of your content may remain on other services using the AT Protocol. In practice, deletion across the decentralized network may not be fully enforceable.

  • negative ●●●●○ terms
    Mandatory arbitration clause

    Most disputes must go through a 60-day informal process and then binding individual arbitration instead of court. This usually makes it harder to bring claims publicly or use normal court procedures.

  • negative ●●●●○ terms
    Class actions waived

    Users generally cannot participate in class or representative actions against Bluesky. That reduces leverage for small-value claims that are impractical to pursue individually.

  • positive ●●●●○ privacy
    No targeted ad sales

    Bluesky says it does not sell or share personal data for targeted advertising. That's a meaningful privacy-positive commitment compared with many social platforms.

  • positive ●●●●○ privacy
    Access, deletion, portability rights

    Depending on location, users can request access, correction, deletion, portability, restriction, objection, and review of automated decisions. These are substantial privacy rights, especially for users in stronger-regulation jurisdictions.

  • negative ●●●○○ terms
    Broad content license

    You keep ownership of what you post, but grant Bluesky a worldwide, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, distribute, display, moderate, and promote that content. This is broad enough to cover product use and marketing uses.

  • negative ●●●○○ privacy
    Long retention discretion

    Bluesky keeps data while your account is active and may retain it longer for trust and safety, disputes, audits, legal compliance, and claims. The policy does not give firm deletion deadlines for many categories.

  • negative ●●●○○ terms
    Liability capped at $100

    If something goes wrong, Bluesky's financial liability is generally limited to US$100, except in narrow cases like fraud, gross negligence causing death or personal injury, or non-waivable statutory rights.

  • positive ●●●○○ terms
    Clear account deletion option

    The terms explicitly say you can delete your account at any time in settings. A built-in deletion flow is more user-friendly than requiring manual support requests.

  • positive ●●●○○ terms
    Appeal moderation decisions

    If your account is suspended or restricted, you can appeal using an in-app tool or email within two weeks. EU/EEA users also retain access to out-of-court review and local courts.

Documents

Facebook logo
Facebook
Social
★★★☆☆
Mixed

The service offers some meaningful privacy controls and does not sell personal data, but it collects and shares a lot of information, heavily personalizes ads, and gives itself broad moderation, licensing, and retention powers. Overall it is not unusually hostile, but users should expect significant data use and limited control over public content.

Facebook’s legal terms are fairly detailed and give Meta broad rights to host, use, and promote content and ads, while also reserving strong enforcement powers over accounts and content. The documents include some user-friendly elements like advance notice for material terms changes, no sale of personal data to advertisers, deletion and portability tools, and consumer-court language for some disputes. However, data collection is extensive, public content can spread widely, and deletion may take up to 90 days plus backup retention.

Points of interest

  • negative ●●●●● privacy
    Extensive data collection

    Meta collects information you provide, your activity, devices, contacts, and data from partners and third parties. In practice, this means Facebook can build a very detailed profile even from activity outside the app.

  • negative ●●●●○ privacy
    Partner tracking via pixels

    The policy says Meta receives information through cookies, pixels, and similar technologies from other websites and apps. This can connect your off-Facebook browsing and app activity back to your account or ad profile.

  • negative ●●●●○ privacy
    Public content spreads widely

    Some information is public by default, and public content can be viewed, reshared, downloaded, and even appear off Meta. Users should assume public posts may travel far beyond Facebook.

  • negative ●●●●○ terms
    Broad content license

    By posting content, you grant Meta a worldwide, sublicensable license to use, modify, distribute, and create derivatives. That gives Meta wide operational freedom to reuse what you upload while it remains on its systems.

  • negative ●●●●○ terms
    Deletion can take months

    Account or content deletion can take up to 90 days, plus another 90 days to remove copies from backups and disaster recovery systems. Some content can also be retained longer for legal, safety, or technical reasons.

  • positive ●●●●○ terms
    No data sales to advertisers

    Meta states it does not sell your personal data to advertisers and does not share directly identifying information without permission. That is better than a true data-selling model, though it still uses your data for ad targeting.

  • positive ●●●●○ privacy
    Deletion tools available

    You can delete individual content, delete your account, and trash items begin a deletion process automatically after 30 days. The policy also says deleted items are removed from visibility while deletion is pending.

  • negative ●●●○○ terms
    Heavy ad personalization

    Facebook uses your personal data to show personalized ads and sponsored content, including across Meta products and sometimes off-platform. Even though Meta says it does not sell your personal data, your activity is still used for targeted advertising.

  • negative ●●●○○ terms
    Strong account enforcement

    Meta can remove content, restrict features, suspend, disable, or delete accounts for serious or repeated violations, often in its discretion. Some review explanations may be withheld for safety, legal, or technical reasons.

  • positive ●●●○○ privacy
    Data portability supported

    Meta says you can download your information and, in some cases and subject to law, port it. This gives users at least some ability to take their data elsewhere.

  • positive ●●●○○ terms
    Consumer courts preserved

    For consumers, disputes are governed by the law of your country and may be brought in competent local courts. That is more user-friendly than forcing all users into a distant arbitration forum.

  • positive ●●○○○ terms
    Advance notice of changes

    Meta says it will notify users at least 30 days before material Terms changes, unless the change is required by law. That gives users a chance to review updates before they take effect.

Documents

Comparison is based on each service's published Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Read the source documents linked above before relying on any specific clause.