WordPress.com (Deleted)
- The documents do not say whether your data trains AI.
- 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 documents do not say who can read your content.
They collect account, content, usage, and ads data; can close you anytime; subscriptions auto-renew and most payments are final.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
Account info, your posts, payments, device logs, usage, cookies, and sometimes location or photos.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“Like most online service providers, we collect information that web browsers, mobile devices, and servers typically make available, including the browser type, IP address, unique device identifiers”
Training
They use your data to run the site, improve it, market, show ads, and keep things safe.
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Privacy policy
“To place and manage ads in our advertising program. For example, to place ads on our users’ sites and some of our own sites as part of our advertising program, and understand ad performance.”
Sharing
Vendors, ad partners, site owners you interact with, and the public if you post publicly.
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Privacy policy
“we and our users do use cookies to share certain device identifiers and information about your browsing activities with our advertising partners”
Kept
They keep data while they have a reason; deleted posts sit in Trash 30 days, then may stay in backups.
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Privacy policy
“We generally discard information about you when it’s no longer needed for the purposes for which we collect and use it — described in the section above on How and Why We Use Information — and we’re not legally required to keep it.”
Controls
You can close your account, reject cookies, opt out of some ads and marketing, and use settings.
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Privacy policy
“You can learn more about this sharing and how to opt out by clicking the “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” link in the footer of our websites, or from the settings page within our apps.”
Fine print
They can close you without notice; plans auto-renew; most payments are final; you may cover their legal costs.
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Terms of service
“We may terminate your access to all or any part of our Services at any time, with or without cause or notice, effective immediately”
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.
Opt out of sale or sharing of personal information
“Do Not Sell My Personal Information” link in the website footer, or the settings page in their apps
Cancel a paid subscription before it renews
WordPress.com Manage Purchases page or Woo My Subscriptions page, or contact support
Opt out of marketing emails
Follow the instructions in those emails, or tell them you want to stop promotional messages
Close your WordPress.com account
Account closure instructions for WordPress.com accounts linked from the privacy policy Choices section
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 shut off your site or account instantly, even without a reason or a warning.
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Terms of service
“We may terminate your access to all or any part of our Services at any time, with or without cause or notice, effective immediately”
For example, your blog could go offline overnight and you might not get a heads-up first.
If someone sues them because of how you used the service, you may have to pay their legal bills.
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Terms of service
“You agree to and Automattic, its contractors, and its licensors, and their respective directors, officers, employees, and agents from and against any and all losses, liabilities, demands, damages, costs, claims, and expenses, including attorneys’ fees”
For example, if a post on your site causes a lawsuit, you could be on the hook for their lawyer fees.
Unless the law or a special refund policy says otherwise, money you pay is not coming back.
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Terms of service
“In all other cases, there are no refunds and all payments are final.”
For example, if you pay for a year of a plan and cancel after a week, you may still lose the rest of the year.
They get a broad license to copy and share your posts to run and promote the service, and they can pass that license to others.
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Terms of service
“You grant us a worldwide, , transferable, , and non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, distribute, adapt, publicly display, and publish the Content for the purpose of providing and improving our products and Services and promoting your website Content.”
For example, a public post could be sent through their Firehose feed for others to analyze.
Other companies can track you on WordPress.com and elsewhere to target ads.
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Privacy policy
“These ad networks and analytics providers may set tracking technologies (like cookies) to collect information about your use of our Services and across other websites and online services.”
For example, visiting a WordPress.com site could help an ad network show you ads on another site later.
Some ad and marketing sharing counts as a sale or share under some US laws, but you can opt out.
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Privacy policy
“To the extent that we share your information with certain advertising, marketing, or analytics vendors, this can be considered a “sale” or “share” in certain U.S. States, which you may have the right to opt out of.”
For example, you can use the Do Not Sell link in the site footer if it appears for your state.
Paid plans keep charging until you cancel, including after a discount ends.
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Terms of service
“By enrolling in a subscription, you authorize us to automatically charge the then-applicable fees and Taxes for each subsequent subscription period until the subscription is canceled.”
For example, a cheap first year can jump to full price next year unless you cancel in time.
A support message you send them might be posted publicly.
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Privacy policy
“If you send us a request for assistance (for example, via a support email or one of our other feedback mechanisms), we reserve the right to publish that request in order to clarify or respond to your request, or to help us support other users.”
For example, an email about a broken plugin could show up where other users can read it.
Kids under 13 (or 16 in Europe) are not allowed; they rely on you saying your age.
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Terms of service
“You’re not allowed to access or use our Services if you’re under the age of 13 (or 16 in Europe). If you register as a user or otherwise use our Services, you represent that you’re at least 13 (or 16 in Europe).”
For example, a 12-year-old could still sign up if they type that they are older.
They say they try to keep your data safe and watch for attacks, but they do not promise it is fully secure.
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Privacy policy
“While no online service is 100% secure, we work very hard to protect information about you against unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction, and take reasonable measures to do so. We monitor our Services for potential vulnerabilities and attacks.”
For example, they suggest turning on two-step login to better protect your account.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- service providers
- Outside companies that handle your data on the app's instructions, such as a cloud host or an email sender. For example, the company that stores the app's files in the cloud sees your data but only does what the app tells it.
- device identifiers
- Codes that single out your phone or computer, used to recognise you across apps and sites. For example, the advertising ID on your phone lets two unrelated apps know they are seeing the same person.
- cookies
- Small files a website saves on your device so it can recognise you and remember what you did. For example, a cookie keeps you logged in and can also tell an ad company which sites you visited.
- opt out
- Something is on by default and stays on until you find the setting and turn it off. For example, your chats may be used for training unless you go into settings and switch it off.
- sell or share
- Under California law, selling means passing your data to others for money or other value; sharing means passing it on for targeted ads. For example, letting an ad network use your browsing history in return for ad space counts as a sale.
- personal data
- Any information that is about you or can be linked to you, from your name to your phone's ID. For example, your email, your IP address and the list of apps on your phone are all personal data.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- tracking pixels
- Tiny invisible images or bits of code in a page, app or email that report back when and where you opened it. For example, a pixel in a marketing email tells the sender the moment you read it.
How we got here · grade F · score 32/100 · 15 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 5 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
Besides your account and the content you post, they collect logs, device IDs, usage, cookies, and approximate location from your IP. Precise location and photos only if you allow the app.
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?
Not stated in the documents.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
Not stated in the documents.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
They and ad partners use cookies and device IDs so you can see personalized ads on WordPress.com sites and elsewhere.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They say they do not sell data for money, but ad and marketing sharing can count as a sale or share in some US states, with an opt-out.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You keep ownership of posts, but you give them a worldwide, transferable, sublicensable license to use content to run, improve, and promote the service.
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?
Not stated in the documents.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They say they take reasonable measures, monitor for attacks, and encourage two-step authentication. No independent audit is described.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
You must be 13 (or 16 in Europe) and you state that when you sign up. Under 18 you need a parent who agrees to the terms.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
The terms are dated. They post updates and sometimes give extra notice, but further use means you accept the new rules.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
They can end your access at any time, with or without cause or notice, and they do not have to refund fees already paid.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
The service is offered as-is with a low cap on what they pay, and you agree to cover their legal costs related to your use.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
Subscriptions auto-renew until you cancel. Except where the law or a special policy requires it, payments are final.
The privacy policy is 8,106 words at a college level (Flesch reading ease 40.6); the terms are 10,839 words at a college level.
