Pinterest provides useful privacy controls, deletion/export rights, and region-specific protections, but these are offset by broad content licensing, targeted advertising/sharing practices, arbitration and class action waivers for many users, low liability caps, and broad personalization based on offsite activity.
Pinterest is a social platform that personalizes content and ads using extensive onsite and offsite data. Its terms are relatively standard for a large ad-supported platform: users keep ownership of posts but grant Pinterest and others a broad license, and non-European users face arbitration and major liability limits. On the privacy side, Pinterest offers meaningful access, deletion, export, and some ad opt-outs, but it also shares data for targeted advertising and international transfers.
Points of interest
If you live outside the EEA, Switzerland, or UK, most disputes must go through individual binding arbitration after a mandatory notice process. You also waive court access for many claims and cannot join class actions.
"you and Pinterest are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action"
You keep ownership of your posts, but Pinterest, its providers, and other users get a very broad worldwide license to use, modify, distribute, and monetize your content. You are not entitled to payment if your content is monetized.
"a non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable, worldwide license to... modify, create derivative works, monetize"
Pinterest uses your activity, partner data, and offsite behavior to personalize ads and may disclose data for advertising and measurement. It expressly says some of this may count as targeted advertising, sharing, or selling under U.S. state laws.
"Some of these activities may be considered “targeted advertising” “sharing” or “selling”"
Pinterest collects data from cookies, the Pinterest Save button, advertisers, partners, and linked third-party accounts to infer your interests. This means your activity beyond Pinterest can affect what content and ads you see.
"we use your activity... along with... information from our partners and advertisers to make inferences about you and your preferences"
For many users, Pinterest limits its total liability to $100 and excludes many categories of damages. If the service causes harm, recovering meaningful compensation may be difficult.
"In no event shall our aggregate liability for all claims relating to the Service exceed one hundred U.S. dollars"
Pinterest offers built-in ways to delete your account and data, access your information, and receive it in a portable format. This gives users meaningful control if they want to leave the service.
"You can request access to the information we collect and hold about you in a portable format"
Deleting your account or content does not guarantee immediate or complete disappearance. Pinterest may retain content for backup, archival, or audit purposes, and copies saved or shared by others may remain available.
"we may keep your User Content for a reasonable period of time for backup, archival, or audit purposes"
Pinterest says it reviews activity and messages for safety, fraud, policy enforcement, legal matters, and age verification. Users should not assume private communications are free from monitoring.
"Review your activity and messages on our Services to detect spam, enforce our Terms and policies"
Users can opt out of targeted advertising, sharing, or sale uses in Privacy and Data Settings. Pinterest also says it honors Global Privacy Control for eligible U.S. state residents.
"You may opt out at any time by following the instructions in your Privacy and Data Settings menu"
Pinterest says it will notify users before material changes to the Terms take effect, rather than changing them silently. That is better than purely unilateral updates with no advance notice.
"we’ll notify you of any material changes to these Terms before any update enters into effect"
Consumers in the EEA, Switzerland, and UK are not subject to the arbitration clause and can rely on their home-country law and courts. This is a meaningful procedural protection for those users.
"if you are a consumer in the EEA, Switzerland, or the UK, Section 11 doesn't apply to you"
Pinterest transfers and stores data outside your home country, including in the United States. This is common for global platforms, but it can mean different legal protections and government access rules apply.
"you authorize us to transfer and store your information outside your home country, including in the United States"
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Documents
Terms of Service
source ↗- •You must be at least 13, meet your country’s consent age rules, provide accurate account information, and follow Pinterest’s policies and applicable laws.
- •Pinterest gives you a limited, revocable license to use the service, forbids unauthorized scraping or reverse engineering, and may automatically update its software.
- •You keep ownership of content you post, but you must have rights to it and Pinterest may remove content or suspend accounts for violations.
- •By posting content, you give Pinterest, its providers, and users a worldwide, royalty-free license to use, modify, share, display, and monetize it.
- •Pinterest uses your personal data and activity to identify your interests, personalize recommendations, and show relevant labeled ads; recommendation settings can be adjusted.
- •Deleted content or accounts may be retained for backup, archival, or audit purposes, and copies already saved or shared by others may remain available.
- •Pinterest may suspend or terminate your access for violations, you may delete your account anytime, and some terms continue after termination.
- •The service is provided "as is" without warranties, and Pinterest broadly limits liability, generally capping damages at $100 where law allows.
- •If you live outside the EEA, Switzerland, or UK, disputes usually require informal notice first, then binding individual arbitration or small claims, with no class actions.
- •California law and courts generally apply outside the EEA, Switzerland, and UK; consumers in those regions use their home-country law and courts.
Privacy Policy
source ↗- •Pinterest collects information you provide, including account details, content, messages, contacts, and optional precise location data.
- •It also collects device, log, cookie, usage, inferred interests, and approximate location data, plus information from partners, advertisers, and linked third-party accounts.
- •Pinterest uses this information to run the service, personalize content and ads, suggest people and content, provide support, and send updates.
- •It reviews activity and messages for safety, policy enforcement, fraud prevention, legal matters, age verification, analytics, and improving products, including AI and machine learning models.
- •Pinterest may share or disclose data for advertising, measurement, off-Pinterest marketing, and partner reporting; some U.S. laws may treat this as targeted advertising, sharing, or selling.
- •You can access, correct, delete, or export your data, opt out of targeted advertising uses, withdraw consent where applicable, and appeal some denied requests.
- •Pinterest honors some device and browser privacy controls, including cookie controls, mobile permissions, and Global Privacy Control for eligible U.S. state residents.
- •Your information may be transferred to and stored outside your home country, including the United States, where legal protections may differ.
- •Pinterest keeps personal information only as long as needed for the stated purposes or legal obligations, then deletes or de-identifies it.
- •Children under 13 cannot use Pinterest, and higher local age requirements may apply where consent laws require an older minimum age.
