Revision History
Facebook.com - Platform Policies
Show other documents from Facebook.com
Version Comments
A new section has been added called "Marketplace Platform".
One of the bullets has been removed from the "Encourage proper use" section.
New terms added to the "Games" section.
The "Messenger Expression" section has been removed.
A clarification has been added to the Jobs Platform section.
Changes under Marketing API and Jobs Platform.
Small change under "Service Providers".
Changes under "Give People Control", "Instant Games", and "PSID API".
New terms added concerning "Sharing to Stories".
Several new changes have been made throughout including two new sections: Tech Providers and PSID API.
New terms added regarding promotional content in your app's icon and ad inclusions within your game.
Changes under the sections "Encourage proper use" and "Games"; "Jobs API" renamed to "Jobs Platform".
Terminology update in the "Login" section.
Update under "Subscription-based messaging".
Clarification made under "Messages and Data".
Changes under "Build a quality product" and "Messenger Platform".
Minor change under "Live API".
Major changes to "Pages API and Features"; New section entitled "Jobs API".
Small change under "Ads".
New terms concerning "Instant Games".
A new section has been added called "CrowdTangle API".
New terms under "Live API" that says not to publish only images or to live-stream polls associated with unmoving or ambient broadcasts.
Clarifications made under "4. Encourage proper use"; Definition of SDK updated.
A new section entitled "Camera Platform" has been added.
Terms removed from "2. Give people control" and changes to "19. Live API".
A clarification has been added to the "Protect Data" section.
Terminology changes under the "App Center" section.
Minor changes to "App Center" and "Messenger Platform"; "Ads API" renamed to "Marketing API".
A clarification has been made to the Data Collection and Use clause of the section "14. Ads API".
The "19. Live API" section has been amended concerning pre-recorded vs live content.
A new term has been added to the "Live API" section concerning third party ads in video content.
New terms added to the "16. Messenger Platform" section and a clarification was made to "Acceptable message types".
The terminology surrounding streaming directly to Facebook has been updated in section "19. Live API".
A link to the "Brand Guidelines for Facebook Developers" has been added to the section on encouraging proper use; The Messenger Platform section has been rewritten.
Updates to sections "Messages and Data" and "Live API".
An item under "Messages and Data" has been removed describing the approval process for your initial intended use cases for Messenger.
Section 19 on "Live API" has been updated concerning using the API to stream directly from a mobile phone or tablet.
"or business" added to the following sentence: Don't prefill captions, comments, messages, or the user message parameter of posts with content a person or business didn't create, even if the person can edit or remove the content before sharing.
Section 20 entitled "Profile Expression Kit" has been updated to include "photos or videos".
Sections updated: "Give People Control" and "Things You Should Know".
A new rule has been added under "Protect Data" related to making decisions about eligibility.
Clarification added concerning Share Dialogs to prefill a hashtag; New sections added: Additional policies for the Quotes Plugin (under Social Plugins), Messenger Platform, Account Kit, Live API, and Profile Expresion Kit.
Clarification added in section "3. Protect data"; A new section has been added on "Lead Ads"; Definition on "Ads API" added.
A new section called "Page API" has been added; New policy added to the section "Ads API".
Section "15. Messenger" has been updated.
Terms concerning third-party ads have been updated.
Clarification added in section "9. Games" concerning online gambling.
A new term added about giving "adequate consent from people before using any Facebook technology" under section 2, "Give people control"; An entirely new section added called "Messenger".
You may no longer incentivize people to like your app's Page. Last updated date re-added.
Changes made under section 14, Ads API. Some new rules added and removed as well as phrasing changes were made.
Rule 3 updated under the section "Give people control" concerning prefilling content from a user.
A new term added under section 2 (Give people control) concerning using your account information.
Many terms changed under sections 11 (App Center) and 12 (Open Graph).
Added "Effective November 5th, 2014, you may no longer incentivize people to like your app's Page."
This is a MAJOR revision. Please review the changes carefully. Also note that the "Date of Last Revision" has been removed from the document.
Summary and Introduction sections modified (minor update)
A condition concerning "Requests" in the Application Integration Points section has been removed.
Terminology for log out option updated.
Phrasing changed concerning user data usage for advertising purposes.
Terms changed under "Data Collection and Use" and a new section concerning "License" has been added.
Phrasing changed concerning sharing information from children under the age of 13.
New condition added concerning children under 13.
Effective date changed to Jan 2014 concerning requests.
A new section on sharing information with facebook was added as well as a new condition under the "Pricing transparency" section.
Phrasing changed under "Data collection and use" under the Ads API section.
Effective date changed for the "Requests" portion of Application Integration Points.
Considerable changes under the Ads API section.
A new condition was added under the Application Integration Points section.
A new condition concerning "Pricing transparency" has been added to the Ads API section.
A new condition was added under section "VIII. Branding and Promotion Policy" concerning the advertising guidelines.
New terms added concerning "Reciprocity and Replicating core functionality" under Features and Functionality.
Terms changed under section "II. Storing and Using Data You Receive From Us"
Effective date was removed (minor change)
Condition changed under section "IV. Application Integration Points" in point 4b.
A new condition was added concerning "Quality of content" under section III, part A.
Added the word "online" to the phrase: "...online real money games of skill or online lotteries"
Added a condition that requires you to "include a link to your app's privacy policy in any app marketplace that provides you with the functionality to do so."
New section added concerning "Special provisions for games" (see section I. #13). Other minor changes throughout.
New point added on "Competing social networks"
Major changes to Section "III. Content"
Added a section under "Ads API" concerning placing a 1x1 pixel view tag on certain advertisements
Terminology change and removed the phrase "give people the power to share" (minor update)
Removed the following line under Features & Functionality in section 5: "...by creating a confidential bug report with the threshold policy tag"; Also added a list of Advertising Providers in section III E. Advertisements And Cross-Promotions
A new condition was added: "You must not include data obtained from us in any search engine or directory without our written permission."
Changes made to section "IV. Application Integration Points" in item 3.
Changed condition concerning Mobile Web Apps and payment methods
Changes made to section I. Features and Functionality
A link was added to create a "confidential bug report" if thresholds are exceeded.
Updated terminology under "Prohibited Content" for gambling.
An additional point was added under "Features and Functionality" concerning Canvas or Page Tab apps.
This is the initial version that ParanoidPaul captured. It is not necessarily the first version of the document.
Indicates that the document has been updated silently, without a change to the posted "last modified" date!
PLATFORM POLICY

	1. Build a quality product
2. Give people control
3. Protect data
4. Encourage proper use
5. Follow the law
6. Things you should know 

	If you use these features, follow these additional policies: 

	7. Login
8. Ads
9. Games
10. Payments
11. App Center
12. Open Graph
13. Social Plugins
14. Ads API
15. Definitions

1. BUILD A QUALITY PRODUCT

	Build an app that is stable and easily navigable.  

	Ensure that your app’s content (including ads and user-generated content) meets our Community Standards. 

	Follow our Advertising Guidelines for your app name, icons, and description. 

	Keep your app’s description and categorization up-to-date.  

	Don’t confuse, deceive, defraud, mislead, spam or surprise anyone.  

	Keep your app’s negative feedback below our thresholds.  

	Follow any instructions we include in our technical documentation. 

2. GIVE PEOPLE CONTROL

	Obtain consent from people before publishing content on their behalf.  

	Use publishing permissions to help people share on Facebook, not to send people messages from your app.  

	Ensure that all content in the user message parameter is entered by the user. Don’t pre-fill. This includes posts, messages, comments, and captions.  

	Provide a publicly available and easily accessible privacy policy that explains what data you are collecting and how you will use that data. 

	Include your privacy policy URL in the App Dashboard.  

	Link to your privacy policy in any app marketplace that allows you to.  

	Comply with your privacy policy. 

	Delete all of a person’s data you have received from us (including friend data) if that person asks you to, unless you are required to keep it by law, regulation, or separate agreement with us. You may keep aggregated data only if no information identifying a specific person could be inferred or created from it. 

	Obtain consent from people before using their data in any ad. 

	Obtain consent from people before you give us information that you independently collected from them. 

	If you are tracking a person's activity, provide an opt-out from that tracking. 

	Provide meaningful customer support for your app, and make it easy for people to contact you. 

	If people come to your app from the Facebook app on iOS, give them an option to go back to the Facebook app by using the Back to Facebook banner provided in our SDK. 

	If people come to your app from the Facebook app on Android, don’t prevent them from going back to Facebook when they press the system back button. 

3. PROTECT DATA

	Protect the information you receive from us against unauthorized access or use. 

	Only show data obtained from a user access token on the devices associated with that token. 

	Only use friend data (including friends list) in the person’s experience in your app. 

	If you cache data you receive from us, use it to improve your app’s user experience and keep it up to date.  

	Don’t proxy, request or collect Facebook usernames or passwords. 

	Keep private your secret key and access tokens. You can share them with an agent acting to operate your app if they sign a confidentiality agreement. 

	If you use any partner services, make them sign a contract to protect any information you obtained from us, limit their use of that information, and keep it confidential. 

	Keep Facebook user IDs within your control. Contract with any providers who help you build or run your app to ensure that they keep the user IDs secure and confidential and comply with our policies. If you need an anonymous unique identifier to share with third parties, use our mechanism. 

	Don't sell, license, or purchase any data obtained from us or our services. 

	Don't transfer any data that you receive from us (including anonymous, aggregate, or derived data) to any ad network, data broker or other advertising or monetization-related service. 

	Don't put Facebook data in a search engine or directory, or include web search functionality on Facebook. 

	If you are acquired by or merge with a third party, you can continue to use our data only within your app. 

	If you stop using Platform, promptly delete all user data you have received from us (absent explicit consent from people). You can keep basic account information if you have presented your privacy policy within your app. 

	If you use friend data from Facebook to establish social connections in your app, only do so if each person in that connection has granted you access to that information. 

4. ENCOURAGE PROPER USE

	Add something unique to the community. Don’t replicate core functionality that Facebook already provides. 

	Respect the way Facebook looks and functions. Don't offer experiences that change it.  

	If you’re building an app with a personalized or social experience, enable people to easily share on Facebook content they've created. 

	Respect the limits we've placed on Facebook functionality.  

	Only incentivize a person to log into your app, like your app’s Page, enter a promotion on your app’s Page, or check-in at a place. Don’t incentivize other actions. Effective November 5th, 2014, you may no longer incentivize people to like your app's Page.  

	Encourage people to accurately tag and share content.  

	If your service integrates a person’s data into a physical product, only create a physical product for that person’s personal and non-commercial use.  

	Don’t build an app whose primary purpose is to redirect people off of Facebook.  

	If you want to use our logos or brand, follow the guidelines in the Facebook Brand Resource and Permissions Center. Ad networks and data brokers must get our written permission before using our Platform, logos, or trademarks.  

	Don't sell, transfer or sublicense our code, APIs, or tools to anyone. 

	Only use our SDKs to develop and distribute apps for use with the Facebook Platform. You may also distribute any code libraries or sample source code included in the SDKs for inclusion in such apps. 

	Don’t modify, translate, create derivative works of, or reverse engineer any SDK or its components. 

	Be honest about your relationship with Facebook when talking to the press or users. Comply with our Developer PR Guidelines and get approval from us before issuing any formal press release or blog post mentioning Facebook. 

	If you use the Like button on iOS or Android, don’t collect or use any information from it. 

5. FOLLOW THE LAW

	You are responsible for restricting access to your content in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations, including geo-filtering or age-gating access where required. 

	Don’t provide or promote content that infringes upon the rights of any third party. 

	Ensure that you own or secure all rights necessary to display, distribute and deliver all content in your app. 

	Satisfy all licensing, reporting and payout obligations to third parties in connection with your app. 

	If your app contains content submitted or provided by third parties: 

	a. In the United States, you must take all steps required to fall within the applicable safe harbors of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act including designating an agent to receive notices of claimed infringement, instituting a repeat infringer termination policy and implementing a notice and takedown process. 

	b. In other countries, you must comply with local copyright laws and implement an appropriate notice and takedown process for when you receive a notice of claimed infringement. 

	Don’t knowingly share information with us that you have collected from children under the age of 13. 

	Web sites or services directed to children under 13: If you use Social Plugins or our JavaScript SDK for Facebook on sites and services that are directed to children under 13, you are responsible for complying with all applicable laws. For example, if your web site or service is directed to children in the United States, or knowingly collects personal information from children in the United States, you must comply with the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. You must also adhere to our usage notes. 

	Comply with all applicable laws and regulations in the jurisdiction where your app is available. Do not expose Facebook or people who use Facebook to harm or legal liability as determined by us in our sole discretion. 

	If applicable, comply with the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) and obtain any opt-in consent necessary to share data on Facebook. 

	You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from and against all damages, losses, and expenses of any kind (including reasonable legal fees and costs) related to any claim against us related to your service, actions, content or information. 

6. THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

	We can analyze your app, content, and data for any purpose, including commercial.  

	We can monitor or collect data related to your use of SDKs. 

	We will use information we receive from you or in connection with your Platform integration in accordance with our Data Use Policy. 

	You give us all rights necessary to enable your app to work with Facebook, including the right to incorporate information you provide to us into other parts of Facebook, and the right to attribute the source of information using your name or logos. 

	We may share your contact info with people who want to contact you. 

	We may use your name, logos, content, and information, including screenshots and video captures of your app, to demonstrate or feature your use of Facebook, worldwide and royalty-free. 

	You give us the right to link to or frame your app, and place content, including ads, around your app. If you use our social plugins, feed dialog or share button, you also give us permission to use and allow others to use such links and content on Facebook. 

	We can audit your app to ensure it is safe and does not violate our Terms. If requested, you must provide us with proof that your app complies with our terms.  

	We can create apps or products that offer features and services similar to your app. 

	We don’t guarantee that Platform will always be free. 

	If you exceed 5M MAU, 100M API calls per day, or 50M impressions per day, you may be subject to additional terms. 

	Facebook and its licensors reserve all right, title and interest, including all intellectual property and other proprietary rights, in and to all SDKs. 

	Any SDKs you receive from us are provided to you on an "as is" basis, without warranty of any kind. 

	We can issue a press release describing our relationship with you. 

	We may enforce against your app or web site if we conclude that your app violates our terms or is negatively impacting the Platform. We may or may not notify you in advance. 

	Enforcement is both automated and manual, and can include disabling your app, restricting you and your app’s access to platform functionality, requiring that you delete data, terminating our agreements with you or any other action that we deem appropriate. 

	We communicate with developers through Developer Alerts and email from the fb.com or facebookmail.com domain. Ensure that the email address associated with your Facebook account and the email address registered to the app are current and that you don’t filter out these messages. 

	We may change these terms at any time without prior notice. Please check them regularly. Your continued use of Platform constitutes acceptance of those changes. 

	If you use Social Plugins, Facebook SDKs, or operate a Platform app or website, you must follow our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and these additional rules unless you have our written permission to do otherwise. 

7. LOGIN

	Verify that you have integrated Login correctly. Your app shouldn't crash or hang during the testing process. 

	Native iOS and Android apps that implement Facebook Login must use our official SDKs for login.  

	Use a clearly branded "Login with Facebook" button and follow the Facebook Brand Guidelines.  

	Request only the data and publishing permissions your app needs.  

	If a person declines a permission, you can prompt them again after they indicate an intent to grant you the permission.  

	Provide a "Log Out" option that functions properly and is easy to find.  

8. ADS

	If you have ads in your app on Facebook, comply with our Advertising Guidelines. 

	Avoid excessive ads. Don’t let ads distract from your app’s functionality.  

	Don’t include ads in Page Tab apps. 

	If you use a third party ad provider to include ads in your app on Facebook, only use a provider from this list. 

	Don’t include third-party ads (including for other apps) in posts, notifications, or requests. 

	Don’t include or pair Platform Integrations with non-Facebook ads.  

	If you run a promotion, contest, competition, or sweepstake on Facebook, comply with our Promotions Policies. 

9. GAMES

	Games on Facebook.com: 

	a. Don’t share the same app ID with a desktop web game off of Facebook.com. 

	b. Don’t use your Facebook.com game or email addresses you’ve obtained from us to promote or link to a desktop web game off of Facebook.  

	c. Use Facebook Payments as your only payment method for all in-game purchases. 

	d. Use Facebook Payments offers if you reward people for actions involving third parties.  

	Desktop web games off Facebook.com: 

	a. Only use Facebook Login, social plugins, and publishing channels. Don’t use connections such as friends lists.  

	b. During authentication, only request age, email, and publishing permissions. 

	Games on mobile: 

	a. Don’t share the same app ID with a desktop web game off of Facebook.com. 

	b. Don’t use your mobile game or email addresses you’ve obtained from us to promote or link to a web game off of Facebook. 

	If you want to promote online gambling, online real money games of skill, or online lotteries, first get our written permission. 

	If your game includes mandatory or optional in-app charges, explain this in your app’s description. 

10. PAYMENTS

	If you use Facebook Payments, comply with the Facebook Developer Payments Terms. 

	Don’t use Facebook Payments to solicit, collect or transfer funds for charitable causes without our prior permission. 

	If you’re using iOS to run your app, use an iOS approved payment method. 

	If you accept payments on Facebook, only do so in your app.  

11. APP CENTER

	Apps eligible for the Facebook App Center must use Facebook Login or have a Facebook Canvas or Page Tab app. 

	App Detail and Description: 

	a. Ensure the app’s name and information are grammatically correct.  

	b. Don't include URLs or use the Facebook brand.  

	c. Don’t include keyword lists, excessive punctuation, or non-standard symbols.  

	All Images: 

	a. Use high quality, relevant images that reflect the app experience. 

	b. Comply with our Facebook Brand Guidelines and Community Standards.  

	c. Don't use pixelated, stretched, or distorted images. 

	d. Keep any text concise. Don't obstruct the images.  

	e. Don’t include third-party logos, website URLs, promotional ads or 'Play' buttons.  

	Icons: 

	a. Keep icons simple and free of visual clutter.  

	b. Use a transparent or colored background. If your icon requires a white background, use a colored border.  

	c. Icons on a white background should be in a colored frame.  

	d. Icons that have rounded corners should use a colored or transparent background.  

	e. If your logo has a drop shadow, place it on a colored background.  

	Cover Images: 

	a. Don’t significantly obscure the cover image with the icon.  

	Banners: 

	a. Display the app’s name.  

	b. Don’t include white space, rounded edges, or borders.  

	Videos: 

	a. Display the app's name.  

	b. Clearly represent the purpose of the app and show accurate, relevant in-app experiences. 

	c. Keep your video high-quality and high-resolution. It should not be distorted or pixelated.  

	d. Your video and its video cover image should be clear and recognizable. Don't include ads, excessive text, or URLs.  

	e. Comply with our Facebook Brand Guidelines and Community Standards.  

12. OPEN GRAPH

	Open Graph Custom Actions: 

	a. Don’t recreate actions that are already supported. 

	b. Write the action and object in a clear and simple way.  

	c. Make sure the story is grammatically correct.  

	d. Use English. 

	e. Don’t indicate a person’s consumption, browsing, discovering, or viewing of content. 

	f. Don’t indicate a person has installed, visited, or connected to your app.  

	Read and Watch Actions: 

	a. Publish actions only after a person has been on a page for more than 10 seconds. 

	b. Allow people to remove stories published to Facebook on the same page where the content is hosted.  

	Eligibility for Additional Properties: 

	a. Use action tagging only when the tagged person participated in the action.  

	b. Use place tagging only when a person is at the referenced location.  

	c. Use mention tagging only to mention people in the user message field.  

	d. Sharing controls should be in-line whenever a person is asked to explicitly share something.  

13. SOCIAL PLUGINS

	Don’t include or pair Platform Integrations with non-Facebook advertisements.  

	Don’t sell or purchase placement of social plugins or sharer.php. 

	Don’t participate in any “like” or “share” exchange programs. 

	Don’t obscure or cover elements of social plugins. 

14. ADS API

	Use separate app IDs for your staging, self-service, managed service, and each client white-labeled apps. Don’t comingle these services. 

	Use our multi-client manager to structure your end advertiser accounts. 

	Don’t combine multiple end-advertisers or their Facebook connections (i.e. Pages) in the same ad account. 

	Free or trial versions of an ads API app: 

	a. Don’t allow more than 50 ad creations a day per customer. 

	b. Require phone or email verification on new accounts. 

	c. Don’t allow affiliate networks to use your technology. 

	Pricing transparency: 

	a. Only charge fees for the use of your tools and managed services with a fixed fee or variable percentage of ad spend. 

	b. Proactively disclose to end advertisers the amount that you spent on Facebook advertising, using Facebook metrics (e.g., CPC, CPM rate), separate from your fees. 

	c. Disclose the amount you charged as fees on Facebook advertising. 

	d. We may disclose fees or the amount you spent on Facebook advertising to your clients if they request it. 

	e. We may require documentation from you to ensure your compliance with these terms. 

	f. Don’t sell ads on a fixed CPM or CPC basis when using the Facebook advertising auction. 

	Data Collection and Use: 

	a. If you have our prior written permission, you can place 1x1 pixel view tags on advertisements. 

	b. Data collected by you or the end-advertiser may only be used by you or the end-advertiser. 

	c. Ensure that any data that is collected is anonymous. 

	d. Only use data from an end-advertiser’s campaign to optimize or measure the performance of that end-advertiser’s Facebook campaign. 

	e. Don’t use data to retarget on or off of Facebook. 

	f. Don’t mix data obtained from us with advertising campaigns on different platforms. 

	g. Don’t use data to build or augment any user profiles. 

	h. Don’t use piggybacking or redirects. 

	i. Don’t let people other than those acting on an end-advertiser’s behalf access Facebook ad statistics. 

	Separate Reporting: 

	a. If you use last-click attribution, create reporting tools that separate Facebook reporting from other channels. 

	b. If you support other channels, do one of the following: 

	i. Create a separate Facebook tool. 

	ii. Include Facebook metrics in a separate Facebook section of your tool. 

	iii. Show multi-touch attribution results side-by-side with last-click attribution results. 

	c. You can report Facebook mobile ads ROI metrics if they relate to other mobile ad channels. 

	Implement all bidding types including Optimized CPM. 

	Custom Audiences: 

	a. If you use custom audiences, comply with the Custom Audience Terms. 

	b. Only use a client’s data when creating custom audiences on their behalf. 

	c. Only use a Facebook User ID to create custom audiences when the person whose User ID is being used has logged into the client’s app and has given the necessary consent. 

	d. Don’t sell or transfer custom audiences. 

	e. Don’t provide data or targeting options that differ from those offered by Facebook on your custom audience tool. 

	Revoke an end-advertiser’s access to your app if we request it. 

15. DEFINITIONS

	“App” means any technical integration we have assigned an app identification number. 

	"Account information" consists of: name, email, gender, birthday, current city and profile picture URL. 

	“User data” means any data, including a person's content or information that you or third parties obtain from or through Facebook. 

	"SDK" means any object code library, sample source code, or documentation you receive from us that helps you create apps for use with the Facebook Platform.

If you'd like to be notified when Facebook.com makes updates to documents like this, choose which ones you'd like to subscribe to today (it's free!).