What is Meta's personal attributes policy?

Direct answerMeta’s personal attributes rule is a copy rule, not a targeting rule. Ads must not assert or imply that the advertiser knows something personal about the person seeing the ad — health, finances, identity, age, and similar traits. Describe the product. Do not diagnose the viewer.

What Meta actually publishes

Meta’s Privacy Violations and Personal Attributes page states the reason in plain language: ads that make assumptions about people can feel intrusive, unsettling, or inaccurate. The remedy is not “be nicer.” It is: do not assert or imply the personal attributes of the audience; focus on the product or service.

The overview in Meta’s Advertising Standards lists attributes including race, ethnicity, religion, beliefs, age, sexual orientation or practices, gender identity, disability, physical or mental health (including medical conditions), vulnerable financial status, voting status, trade-union membership, criminal record, and a person’s name. Meta’s Business Help Center article covers the same family of traits.

That list is an explicit platform rule. What follows is how reviewers usually apply it to performance ads — an interpretation, not extra law Meta published as a numbered test.

The construction that actually fails

Most rejections are not “you mentioned diabetes.” They are “you told the person seeing the ad that this is about their diabetes.” The risky pair is second person (or a question that only works if the answer is yes) plus a listed attribute.

The safer column is a recommended rewrite pattern. It is not a Meta-issued template, and it does not make a restricted product (loans, health claims, dating) automatically eligible. Dating ads, for example, still need Meta’s prior written permission under a separate restricted-goods rule.

What Meta says you can do

The same Transparency Center page lists permitted patterns. These are explicit:

• Creative that describes or shows the product or service.
• “You / your” language without a personal attribute.
• Broad geographic labels such as “American” or “New Yorker.”
• Passing reference to a personal attribute, including gender, age groups, or age ranges.
• Names of celebrities or fictional characters.
• Public-service announcements about health issues that do not assert that the viewer or their family has the condition.

Interpretation: “Formulated for adults 50+” is closer to a passing product age range. “You’re over 50 — these wrinkles need this cream” addresses the viewer. When the line only works if Meta already knows the person, rewrite it.

Targeting vs copy: the mistake that wastes a week

Teams often loosen the audience after a personal-attributes rejection. That usually does not fix it. Meta reviews images, video, text, targeting, and the destination, per the Ads Review Policy — but this particular standard is about what the ad asserts. A 1% lookalike of purchasers can still fail “Are you diabetic?”

Housing, employment, and financial-product ads have a different, additional rule: Special Ad Categories, which restrict targeting tools to reduce discrimination. Do not confuse “I cannot exclude zip codes on a mortgage campaign” with “I cannot say ‘bad credit?’ in a loan ad.” You may have both problems. They are not the same fix.

Lead forms and landing pages

Meta’s personal-attributes page also says ads cannot share or ask for personal attributes of a user or their family, and cannot imply knowledge of medical or financial information. Instant Form fields that only make sense as “tell us your diagnosis” or “what is your credit score?” sit in that family. That is the platform rule.

Best practice, not a published Meta checklist: collect sensitive eligibility data after click, on a page that explains why you need it, rather than in the ad unit that appears in Feed. Health and finance advertisers should still follow sector law (HIPAA marketing rules, FCRA, state privacy). LaunchGuarding does not replace that review.

How this differs from Google and TikTok

Google’s closest published hook for miracle health copy is unreliable claims and misrepresentation, which targets improbable results. Google does not publish a “do not say you are diabetic” rule that matches Meta’s. TikTok more often cites misleading or exaggerated claims and landing-page mismatch. Pasting a Google-approved RSA into Meta is how “Struggling with diabetes?” survives Search and dies on Instagram.

For a scored side-by-side of the same sentences, see can I use the same ad copy on Facebook, Google, and TikTok?. Overlay-only fails belong on why Facebook image ads get rejected.

Rewrite workflow

1. Highlight every “you / your / are you” phrase in primary text, headline, overlay, and lead-form questions.
2. Mark any phrase that pairs that language with health, money, age, identity, disability, legal status, or a name.
3. Rewrite so the sentence names the product, process, or offer — not the person seeing the ad.
4. Keep targeting as-is unless you also have a Special Ad Category or discrimination issue.
5. Open the landing page and Instant Form. Remove questions that ask for diagnoses, credit status, or other listed attributes unless a separate, lawful form flow requires them and the ad itself does not imply the answer.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Meta Transparency Center — Privacy Violations and Personal Attributes
• Meta Business Help Center — About the personal attributes advertising policy
• Meta Advertising Standards
• Meta Ads Review Policy

Policies change. This page is a reading of Meta’s public Advertising Standards as of September 17, 2026. It is not a guarantee of approval and not legal advice. Use the live review note in Ads Manager or Business Support Home as source of truth.