Todoist vs Canva
Side-by-side comparison of the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of Todoist and Canva.
Todoist offers some meaningful privacy positives, including an explicit no-general-AI-training statement, disclosed deletion timing, and data access/portability rights. But these are offset by arbitration, broad content licensing, unilateral termination/service changes, extensive liability limits, auto-renewal, and broad data sharing including advertising/analytics and AI providers.
Todoist’s legal terms are fairly standard for a cloud productivity app: paid plans auto-renew, refunds are limited, liability is heavily capped, and most disputes go to individual arbitration unless you opt out quickly. On privacy, Doist discloses broad data collection and sharing with vendors, analytics, ads, and AI providers, but also states it does not use user data to train generalized AI models and offers EEA/UK rights plus API-based access to much account data.
Points of interest
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negative ●●●●○ termsBinding arbitration required
Most disputes must be resolved through individual arbitration, and you waive court access, jury trial, and class actions unless you opt out within 30 days. That can make it harder and less practical to pursue claims.
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negative ●●●●○ termsBroad content license
You keep ownership of your content, but grant Doist a worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use, store, modify, and distribute it to operate the service. In shared spaces, other users may also get broad rights to interact with your content.
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negative ●●●●○ termsCan terminate anytime
Doist can suspend or terminate your account or access at any time, for any reason or no reason, with or without notice. After termination, it has no obligation to keep or provide your stored content.
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negative ●●●●○ termsStrong liability waivers
The service is provided as-is, with broad warranty disclaimers, and Doist’s liability is generally capped at what you paid in the prior 12 months or $100. This significantly limits your recovery if something goes wrong.
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positive ●●●●○ privacyNo generalized AI training
Doist says it does not use your information, including AI-collected information, to train generalized or non-personalized AI or machine learning models. This is a meaningful privacy commitment compared with many AI-enabled services.
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positive ●●●●○ privacyDeletion with backup timeline
The policy explains that after account deletion, information is removed from production systems and usually only encrypted backup copies remain for 90 days. That gives users a clearer expectation than vague retention language.
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negative ●●●○○ termsAuto-renewal, limited refunds
Paid subscriptions renew automatically until canceled, and fees are generally non-refundable. Users need to cancel before renewal to avoid the next charge.
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negative ●●●○○ termsData shared with AI vendors
If you use AI features, your prompts and related data may be sent to third-party AI providers, and outputs are not guaranteed to be accurate. Sensitive information entered into AI features may therefore reach outside vendors.
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negative ●●●○○ privacyAdvertising and cross-service tracking
The privacy policy allows analytics and advertising cookies, and says third-party partners may collect information about your online activities over time and across different services. That goes beyond strictly necessary service operation.
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positive ●●●○○ privacyAPI access and portability
EEA/UK users are told they can access data, and Doist says it provides full access to your information via its API, with portability rights also described. That can make exporting and moving data easier, though some categories are excluded.
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neutral ●●○○○ privacyEmployer controls workspace data
If you use Todoist through an organizational workspace, your employer or organization may control, access, modify, or delete workspace content, and its privacy policy applies there. That is important context for workplace use rather than a consumer-facing promise.
Documents
Canva combines useful transparency and some user controls with notable limits on liability, dispute rights, data collection, and billing defaults. The presence of opt-outs, private-by-default designs, and export/deletion options helps, but the arbitration clause, auto-renewal, and broad privacy/usage permissions keep it from feeling strongly user-friendly.
Canva’s legal terms are fairly standard for a productivity platform but include several user-unfriendly defaults: broad content licenses, auto-renewing subscriptions, arbitration/class-action waiver, substantial data collection, targeted advertising, and workplace/team admin control over content. On the positive side, Canva says user content ownership stays with users, offers privacy controls and export options, uses private-by-default designs, and provides deletion/rights request channels. Education accounts get stronger protections, including no student advertising and no student data sales.
Points of interest
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negative ●●●●● termsMandatory AAA arbitration
Most disputes must go to individual binding arbitration instead of court, and users waive class actions and jury trials. This significantly limits collective legal remedies and makes it harder to bring a public lawsuit.
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negative ●●●●○ termsSubscriptions auto-renew
Paid plans renew automatically each billing cycle unless canceled, and cancellations only stop future charges at the end of the current cycle. Users should watch renewal dates closely because refunds for paid time are generally unavailable.
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negative ●●●●○ termsBroad content license
Canva keeps your ownership, but it gets a royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, copy, store, display, and use your content to provide the service. Shared designs can carry an even more durable license so the design stays available.
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negative ●●●●○ termsWork admins can control content
If you use a managed or team account, an employer or team administrator may access, transfer, delete, or reassign your account content and designs. That means work-created content may not remain private from the organization controlling the account.
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negative ●●●●○ privacyExtensive tracking and advertising
Canva collects device, cookie, location, and activity data and uses it for personalization, analytics, AI features, and marketing/personalized ads. It also shares certain data with ad partners to measure and target advertising.
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negative ●●●●○ privacyLong post-termination retention
After an account ends, Canva may keep profile information and user content for a commercially reasonable period for legal, audit, backup, and archival purposes. Users should not expect immediate full deletion of all data.
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positive ●●●○○ privacyPrivate by default designs
Canva says designs are private by default, which is a helpful baseline for personal or sensitive work. Users still need to be careful with link-sharing and team collaboration, which can expose content to others.
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positive ●●●○○ termsExport before deletion
Unless an account is terminated for a violation, users can download or export their User Content and designs before the account ends. That gives a practical portability path if you want to leave the service.
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positive ●●●○○ privacyControls for privacy and AI
Canva lets users manage marketing preferences, some cookie settings, third-party enrichment, and AI training-related preferences. This gives meaningful though not complete control over how data is used.
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positive ●●○○○ privacyNo student ad targeting
Canva Education states that students are not served advertising and that student data is not sold. That is a notable protection for education users compared with the main service.
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.