Instacart
Instacart Terms of Service & Privacy Policy
Instacart is an online grocery delivery and pickup platform that connects customers with retailers and independent shoppers to purchase and receive groceries and other goods.
Analyzed May 21, 2026
Key findings
Summary
Instacart's terms include mandatory binding arbitration with a class-action waiver (with a 30-day opt-out and small claims carveout), broad data collection including precise location and third-party advertising tracking, a broad content license including AI training use, and standard discretionary termination and liability limitation provisions. Overall the terms are broad but largely typical of major e-commerce/delivery platforms, with some added risk from AI/advertising data uses.
Category Breakdown
Instacart collects precise geolocation, government ID/age-verification data, session replay data (clicks, mouse movements, keystrokes), and combines data across sources for profiling and advertising.
From: PRIVACY POLICYPrecise geolocation. If you choose to allow the Services to access location services through the permission system used by your device's operating system or browser, we may collect the precise location of your device.View source document
Personal information is shared with marketing and advertising partners, including advertising identifiers and browsing activity, for measurement, analytics, and attribution, alongside standard service-provider sharing.
From: PRIVACY POLICYMarketing and Advertising partners. We receive Personal Information about you, including advertising identifiers, contact information, browsing activity and related data about you from other parties, to supplement the information we collect, and from partners with whom we work for advertising measurement, analytics, and attribution.View source document
Users retain rights in their content but grant Instacart a broad, worldwide, transferable, sublicensable license that explicitly includes using content to develop and improve machine-learning models, and Instacart owns all AI-generated outputs.
From: TERMS OF SERVICELicense to Instacart. You grant Instacart a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, display, modify, distribute, and otherwise use any content you provide to or through the Services...to develop, improve, and evaluate machine-learning models or related technologies that support the Services.View source document
Instacart may suspend or terminate access at any time without notice for any reason or no reason, consistent with standard broad platform discretion.
From: TERMS OF SERVICEWe may suspend or terminate your access to the Services, or stop offering all or part of the Services, at any time and without notice, for any reason or no reason.View source document
Mandatory binding arbitration under AAA rules with a class-action and jury-trial waiver applies to U.S. residents, but includes a 30-day opt-out, a small claims court carveout, and a 60-day informal dispute resolution requirement; Canadian residents face arbitration where permitted or court venue in Ontario/Quebec otherwise.
From: TERMS OF SERVICEYOU MAY OPT OUT OF THE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT WITHIN 30 DAYS OF ACCEPTING THESE TERMS. SEE SECTION 7 (DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND ARBITRATION AGREEMENT) FOR WHAT'S COVERED, EXCEPTIONS, FEES, RULES, AND HOW TO OPT OUT.View source document
Instacart+ memberships auto-renew unless canceled, with limited refund windows (5 days for annual, none for monthly) and disclosed fee-change notice before renewal.
From: TERMS OF SERVICEUNLESS YOU CANCEL, YOUR INSTACART+ MEMBERSHIP WILL AUTOMATICALLY RENEW FOR THE MONTHLY OR ANNUAL TERM YOU SELECTED, AND THE APPLICABLE MEMBERSHIP FEE WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY CHARGED TO AN ACTIVE PAYMENT METHOD ON FILE IN YOUR ACCOUNT AT THE TIME OF RENEWALView source document