Foursquare
- The policy allows AI training; it does not describe an opt-out.
- Your data is used for personalized ads, including by third-party ad companies.
- Data is shared with partners and affiliates; you can opt out.
- The policy describes staff access for safety and legal checks.
Foursquare uses your location and activity for ads and partner products, takes a license, and can close you anytime.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
- Uses your content for AI training with no opt-out
Collected
Account info, location, contacts if you share them, device links, and inferred interests.
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Privacy policy
“These personalization features make inferences based on your location about your interests, and whether separate devices (e.g., mobile phones, tablets, and/or TVs) may be owned by you or members of your household”
Training
They use your data for ads, partner products, and AI and machine learning research.
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Privacy policy
“To conduct data analytics and use artificial intelligence and machine learning to support internal research, create new products and services, improve functionality of existing products and services, and develop new features.”
Sharing
Partners and enterprise customers can get visit, audience, and ad-attribution products built from your data.
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Privacy policy
“To offer products and services to developers, our partners, and our enterprise customers.”
Kept
The documents do not say how long they keep your data after you leave.
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Terms of service
“Foursquare may terminate or suspend your access to all or any part of the Consumer Services at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately, which may result in the forfeiture and destruction of all information associated with the Consumer Services.”
Controls
Precise location and contact-list sharing are described as choices you can make.
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Privacy policy
“When you opt-in to the collection and sharing of precise geolocation data from your mobile device, we may use your data to create an inferred visit to that location, which we call a “Visit.””
Fine print
They can close you without notice, take a forever license, cap at $100, and you cannot join a .
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Terms of service
“ NOTICE: THESE FOURSQUARE CONSUMER SERVICES TERMS OF USE CONTAIN A CLAUSE AND YOU ARE WAIVING THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A LAWSUIT AGAINST FOURSQUARE”
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
Do not opt in to precise location if you do not want Visits
Mobile device location permission / Consumer Services location settings as described in the privacy policy
Do not share your contact list
App permission to access contacts, described as a choice you may make
Terminate your account in the app if you want to leave
Follow the instructions set forth within the specific Consumer Services
Contact Foursquare in writing
1160 Battery Street, Suite 275, San Francisco, CA 94111
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
They can keep using your posts, photos, and other content forever, even after you leave, and can pass that right to others.
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Terms of service
“you hereby grant Foursquare a , , worldwide, non-exclusive, , fully paid, and transferable license to host, use, store, copy, edit, modify, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, perform, and otherwise fully exploit the User Submissions”
For example, a photo you posted of a café could still appear in their ads years after you delete the app.
They can shut your account for any reason, without warning, and your stuff can be deleted.
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Terms of service
“Foursquare may terminate or suspend your access to all or any part of the Consumer Services at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately, which may result in the forfeiture and destruction of all information associated with the Consumer Services.”
For example, your check-in history could vanish overnight with no email first.
They build ad profiles from your app use and from other companies’ apps.
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Privacy policy
“We may also use data collected from your use of our Consumer Services and data from your engagement with apps and services provided by third parties to provide you with advertising about products and services tailored to your inferred interests, preferences, and locations.”
For example, a visit near a gym could lead to fitness ads in other apps.
They package people like you into ad groups for brands.
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Privacy policy
“Using our Visits, along with inferences about your interests, location and other demographics that we derive from the data we have about you, we create “Audiences.” Audiences may be used to send you advertisements tailored to your inferred interests.”
For example, you could be put in a “coffee shop visitors” audience sold to advertisers.
Your data can be used to train or improve their AI and new products, with no opt-out described here.
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Privacy policy
“To conduct data analytics and use artificial intelligence and machine learning to support internal research, create new products and services, improve functionality of existing products and services, and develop new features.”
For example, your movement patterns could help train a new location product.
If someone sues them over something you posted or did, you may have to pay their legal bills.
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Terms of service
“You shall , and Foursquare, its subsidiaries, affiliates and each of its and its subsidiaries, affiliates, employees, contractors, directors, suppliers and representatives from all losses, costs, actions, claims, damages, expenses (including legal costs) or liabilities, that arise from or relate to your use or misuse of, or access to, our Consumer Services”
For example, a photo you uploaded that someone claims is theirs could leave you covering Foursquare’s lawyers.
If they harm you, they say they will pay at most $100 in many cases.
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Terms of service
“THE TOTAL OF SUCH SHALL BE LIMITED IN AGGREGATE TO ONE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ($100).”
For example, even if a data mix-up caused a large loss, they cap what they owe at $100.
You cannot join a group lawsuit with other users; you must sue alone.
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Terms of service
“YOU AGREE TO WAIVE, WITH RESPECT TO ANY DISPUTE: (I) THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A , PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION OR OTHER IN COURT, EITHER AS A CLASS REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS MEMBER”
For example, if many people were overcharged, you could not join them in one case.
If they change the rules, keeping using the app means you agreed, even if you missed the notice.
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Terms of service
“Your continued use of the Consumer Services will constitute acceptance of any changes.”
For example, a new data-sharing rule could apply just because you opened Swarm again.
They say you have to be 18, but this excerpt does not describe ID checks.
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Terms of service
“You must be at least 18 years of age to create an account to use the Consumer Services.”
For example, a 16-year-old could still type that they are 18.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- profiling
- Building a picture of who you are, what you like and what you might do next from your data. For example, an app may guess your income, health or politics from what you watch and tap.
- opt in
- Something is off until you actively say yes to it. For example, marketing emails that only start after you tick a box are opt in.
- precise geolocation
- Your exact position, usually from GPS, often accurate to within a few metres. For example, an app can tell not just your city but which building you are in right now.
- class action waiver
- You agree not to join with other users in one lawsuit; each person must complain alone. For example, if a bug overcharges a million people, you cannot all sue together for a refund.
- perpetual
- Lasting forever, with no end date. For example, a perpetual licence means the company can keep using your video years after you leave.
- irrevocable
- Cannot be taken back or cancelled once given, even if you change your mind or delete your account. For example, an irrevocable licence to your photos means you cannot withdraw it later.
- royalty-free
- The company can use your content without ever paying you for it. For example, your photo can appear in the app's ads and you get nothing.
- sublicensable
- The company can pass its rights over your content on to other companies without asking you. For example, an app can let an advertiser or a partner reuse your video under the licence you gave.
- worldwide license
- You let the company use your content anywhere on earth, usually for free and for as long as it likes. For example, a video you post can be shown in ads in any country without asking you again.
- third parties
- Any company or person other than you and the app, such as advertisers, partners or analytics firms. For example, an analytics company that receives a record of every screen you tap is a third party.
- indemnify
- You promise to pay the company's legal costs and losses if your use of the service gets it sued. For example, if you post a song you do not own and the label sues the app, you owe the app's lawyer bills.
- affiliates
- Other companies owned by or connected to the same parent company. For example, if you use one app, its sister apps under the same owner may also get your data.
How we got here · grade F · score 26/100 · 15 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 4 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect more than account basics, including precise location if you opt in, optional contacts, device-household inferences, and location-based interest profiles.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
Not stated in the documents.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
They say they use personal data with AI and machine learning to research and build products, and these pages do not offer an opt-out.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
They say they may read and disclose information for law, policy enforcement, fraud, support, and safety—not as routine sampling of chats.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
They run tailored ads using your service data and data from third-party apps, plus audience and proximity targeting.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They share location-derived products with partners and enterprise customers; precise location visits are described as opt-in.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You grant a perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable license to your user submissions for their business.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
Not stated in the documents.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
They infer interests, household devices, visits, and ad audiences, but these pages do not describe viewing or turning that off.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
Not stated in the documents.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
You must be at least 18 to create an account; no age-check method is described.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
The terms are dated February 26, 2026; they may notice you, but continued use means you accept changes.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
They can close you anytime without notice, and associated information may be forfeited and destroyed. Fees are non-refundable.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
The service is “as is,” liability is capped at $100, and you must indemnify them for claims related to your use.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
Not stated in the documents.
The privacy policy is 778 words at a college graduate level (Flesch reading ease 34.3); the terms are 5,641 words at a college graduate level.
