Revision History
Facebook.com - Platform Policies
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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!
FACEBOOK PLATFORM POLICIES

INTRODUCTION

	Date of Last Revision: May 24, 2011 

	Facebook Platform is an extension of Facebook, whose mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. 

	Platform applications and developers are required to comply with the following documents: 

 	 Statement of Rights and Responsibilities: requirements for anyone who uses Facebook.
 	 Principles: the spirit of the law for Platform.
 	 Policies: the letter of the law for Platform.

	Here are some Examples and Explanations for specifics. 
-------------------------

PRINCIPLES

	CREATE A GREAT USER EXPERIENCE 

 	 Build social and engaging applications
 	 Give users choice and control
 	 Help users share expressive and relevant content

	BE TRUSTWORTHY 

 	 Respect privacy
 	 Don't mislead, confuse, defraud, or surprise users
 	 Don't spam - encourage authentic communications

-------------------------

POLICIES

	I. FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITY 

 	 You must not violate any law or the rights of any individual or entity, and must not expose Facebook or Facebook users to harm or legal liability as determined by us in our sole discretion.
 	 You must not include functionality that proxies, requests or collects Facebook usernames or passwords.
 	 You must not circumvent (or claim to circumvent) our intended limitations on core Facebook features and functionality.
 	 If you offer a service for a user that integrates user data into a physical product (such as a scrapbook or calendar), you must only create a physical product for that user's personal and non-commercial use.
 	 If you exceed, or plan to exceed, any of the following thresholds please contact us as you may be subject to additional terms: (>5M MAU) or (>100M API calls per day) or (>50M impressions per day).
 	 Your website must offer an explicit "Log Out" option that also logs the user out of Facebook.
 	 Special provisions for apps on Pages:

a. Apps on Pages must not host media that plays automatically without a user's interaction.
 b. When a user visits your Page, if they have not given explicit permission by authorizing your Facebook app or directly providing information to your Page, you may only use information obtained from us and the user's interaction with your Page in connection with that Page. For example, although you may use aggregate analytics for your individual Page, you must not combine information from any other sources to customize the user's experience on your Page and may not use any information about the user's interaction with your Page in any other context (such as analytics or customization across other Pages or websites).

	 	 You must not use or make derivative use of Facebook icons, or use terms for Facebook features and functionality, if such use could confuse users into thinking that the reference is to Facebook features or functionality.

	 II. STORING AND USING DATA YOU RECEIVE FROM US 

 	 You will only request the data you need to operate your application.
 	 You may cache data you receive through use of the Facebook API in order to improve your application’s user experience, but you should try to keep the data up to date. This permission does not give you any rights to such data.
 	 You will have a privacy policy that tells users what user data you are going to use and how you will use, display, share, or transfer that data and you will include your privacy policy URL in the Developer Application.
 	 A user's friends' data can only be used in the context of the user's experience on your application.
 	 Subject to certain restrictions, including on transfer, users give you their basic account information when they connect with your application. For all other data obtained through use of the Facebook API, you must obtain explicit consent from the user who provided the data to us before using it for any purpose other than displaying it back to the user on your application.
 	 You will not directly or indirectly transfer any data you receive from us, including user data or Facebook User IDs, to (or use such data in connection with) any ad network, ad exchange, data broker, or other advertising or monetization related toolset, even if a user consents to such transfer or use. By indirectly we mean you cannot, for example, transfer data to a third party who then transfers the data to an ad network. By any data we mean all data obtained through use of the Facebook Platform (API, Social Plugins, etc.), including aggregate, anonymous or derivative data.
 	 You will not use Facebook User IDs for any purpose outside your application (e.g., your infrastructure, code, or services necessary to build and run your application). Facebook User IDs may be used with external services that you use to build and run your application, such as a web infrastructure service or a distributed computing platform, but only if those services are necessary to running your application and the service has a contractual obligation with you to keep Facebook User IDs confidential.
 	 If you need an anonymous unique identifier to share outside your application with third parties such as content partners, advertisers, or ad networks, you must use our mechansim. You must never share this anonymous unique identifier with a data broker, information broker, or any other service that we may define as such under our sole discretion.
 	 You will not sell any data. If you are acquired by or merge with a third party, you can continue to use user data within your application, but you cannot transfer data outside your application.
 	 If you stop using Platform or we disable your application, you must delete all data you have received through use of the Facebook API unless: (a) it is basic account information; or (b) you have received explicit consent from the user to retain their data.
 	 You cannot use a user’s friend list outside of your application, even if a user consents to such use, but you can use connections between users who have both connected to your application.
 	 You will delete all data you receive from us concerning a user if the user asks you to do so, and will provide an easily accessible mechanism for users to make such a request. We may require you to delete data you receive from the Facebook API if you violate our terms.
 	 You will not include data you receive from us concerning a user in any advertising creative, even if a user consents to such use.
 	 You must not give your secret key to another party, unless that party is an agent acting on your behalf as an operator of your application. You are responsible for all activities that occur under your account identifiers.

	III. APPLICATION CONTENT 

 A. PROHIBITED CONTENT - You are responsible for all content of and within your application, including advertisements and user-generated content. You must not promote, or provide content referencing, facilitating, containing or using, the following: 

	 Alcohol-related content (unless the appropriate Demographic Restrictions are used), or sale of tobacco products, ammunition and/or firearms;
 	 Content that infringes upon the rights of any third party, including intellectual property rights, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary right, or that is deceptive or fraudulent;
 	 Gambling, including without limitation, any online casino, sports books, bingo or poker;
 	 Illegal activity and/or illegal contests, pyramid schemes, sweepstakes or chain letters; if you run, reference, or facilitate a legally permissible sweepstakes, contest, or other promotion you are subject to Facebook's Promotions Guidelines;
 	 Content that is hateful, threatening, defamatory, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.

 B. ADVERTISEMENTS AND CROSS-PROMOTIONS 

	 You must not include advertisements or promotions, cross-promote other applications, or provide web search functionality in content distributed through Facebook social channels.
 	 You can only utilize advertising or similar monetization related products or services from companies that appear on this list within Apps on Facebook.com.

	IV. APPLICATION INTEGRATION POINTS 

 	 You must not incentivize users to use (or gate content behind the use of) Facebook social channels, or imply that an incentive is directly tied to the use of our channels.
 	 You must not pre-fill any of the fields associated with the following products, unless the user manually generated the content earlier in the workflow: Stream stories (user_message parameter for Facebook.streamPublish and FB.Connect.streamPublish, and message parameter for stream.publish), Photos (caption), Videos (description), Notes (title and content), Links (comment), and Jabber/XMPP.
 	 If a user grants you a publishing permission, you must still obtain consent from the user before taking any action on the user's behalf, such as publishing content or creating an event.
 	 You must provide users with an easily identifiable "skip" option whenever you present users with an option to use a Facebook social channel.
 	 You must not provide users with the option to publish more than one Stream story at a time.
 	 Platform integrations, including social plugins:

a. Your advertisements must not include or be paired with any Platform integrations, including social plugins such as the Like button, without our written permission.
 b. You must not sell or purchase placement of a Like button or Like box plugin.
 c. You must not incentivize users to Like any Page other than your own site or application, and any incentive you provide must be available to new and existing users who Like your Page.
 d. You must not obscure or cover elements of our social plugins, such as the Like button or Like box plugin.

 	 Facebook messaging (i.e., email sent to an @facebook.com address) is designed for communication between users, and not a channel for applications to communicate directly with users.

	V. ENFORCEMENT 

	 We can take enforcement action against you and any or all of your applications if we determine in our sole judgment that you or your application violates Facebook Platform Terms and Policies. Enforcement action is both automated and manual, and can include disabling your application, restricting you and your application's access to Platform functionality, terminating our agreements with you, or any other action as we in our sole discretion deem appropriate. 

	Communication with developers takes place via an email sent from the facebook.com or facebookmail.com domain to the Developer Contact email address registered to the application. To stay in touch, please ensure that your email address is current and that you do not filter out any such messages. 

	VI. CHANGES 

	 We can change these Platform Policies at any time without prior notice as we deem necessary. Your continued use of Platform constitutes acceptance of those changes. 

	 VII. DEFINITIONS 

 	 By "Application" we mean canvas page application, Platform integration, or any other technical integration we have assigned an application identification number.
 	 By "Facebook social channel" we mean Application Info Section, Application tab, Feed, requests (including invites), inbox attachments, Chat, Bookmarks, or any other feature of a user profile or Facebook communication channel in which or through which an application can provide, display, or deliver content directed at, on behalf of, or by permission of a user.
 	 By “basic account information” we mean: name, email, gender, birthday, current city, and profile picture URL.
 	 By "Facebook Platform Terms and Policies" we mean the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and the Platform Policies.
 	 By "User data you receive from Facebook" we mean any data or content (including any images, text, or other information or materials) you receive from us, that was provided by users to us, or was associated by us with a particular user.

	VIII. BRANDING AND PROMOTION POLICY 

	You must follow the guidelines set forth in the Facebook Brand Resource and Permissions Center. 

	IX. ADVERTISING GUIDELINES 

	X. FACEBOOK CREDITS 

	Developers participating in the program for accepting credits are subject to these terms. 
-------------------------

EXAMPLES AND EXPLANATIONS

	We want you to be successful on Facebook Platform, and we believe that the best way to do so is to provide a great user experience. Our Platform Policies will help you do this by explaining what’s required; these examples and explanations will help you understand how to put that into practice. 

 	 Advertisements -- Section III.B
 	 Stream Stories -- Section IV 
 	 Terms and Trademarks -- Sections I and X

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