Governing the use of Canva's online design and visual communication platform
Overall Score
Risk by Category
Canva's Terms of Use is a comprehensive legal agreement that outlines the rules for using their design platform, including account management, content ownership and licensing, acceptable use policies, payment terms, subscription details, termination rights, limitations of liability, and dispute resolution mechanisms. Users retain ownership of their uploaded content but grant Canva a broad, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, modify, and distribute it, including for promotional purposes. The terms emphasize compliance with intellectual property laws, prohibit illegal or harmful activities, and include standard disclaimers, indemnity clauses, and an arbitration requirement for disputes under Australian law. While user-friendly for creators, the expansive licenses and arbitration provisions may pose risks for commercial users concerned about content control.
Users grant Canva perpetual, worldwide rights to use, modify, and promote their designs without additional compensation.
Disputes must be resolved via binding arbitration in Australia, waiving class actions and jury trials.
Users indemnify Canva for claims arising from their content or use of the service.
Users retain full ownership and IP rights to their original content.
Easy cancellation, trials, and tiered plans with transparent billing.
Straightforward process for IP infringement reports and takedowns.
Spotify collects the following categories of personal data. High Risk categories are used for advertising profiling or involve sensitive personal information.
Email, password, payment details for registration and billing.
Uploaded designs, images, and templates.
Interactions for analytics; refers to Privacy Policy.
Your data serves the following purposes. Mandatory purposes cannot be disabled without canceling the service. Opt-out available purposes allow some user control.
Collected for service provision; details in linked Privacy Policy.
Design files used to generate outputs and improve services.
Spotify shares data with several categories of third parties. Sharing with advertising partners is extensive and represents the primary commercial use of your behavioral data.
Shared with cloud hosts, payment processors, and support vendors under contract.
Used by Canva group companies for service delivery.
Not sold to advertisers; used internally or contractually.
The following rights may be available to you depending on your region. EU/EEA users have the broadest protections under GDPR. Non-EU users have more limited guarantees.
Users can delete accounts anytime, with content removal upon request.
Users can access and export their designs, subject to license grants.
Limited to arbitration; no court option for most claims.
Data is retained for different periods depending on category, and security disclosures vary in depth. The policy highlights the following retention and transparency points.
Retention Periods
Retained while account is active.
Some data kept for legal/compliance up to 7 years; anonymized analytics indefinitely.
Removed within 30 days of deletion request.
Security & Transparency
Standard industry practices; refers to Privacy Policy for details on encryption and audits.
No mention of SOC2, ISO, or similar in ToS.
Will notify users as required by law.
Source Text
'You grant Canva... a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use, reproduce, distribute...'
Interpretation
Canva gains extensive rights over user designs, potentially for marketing, reducing user exclusivity.
Source Text
'Any dispute... will be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration... under the rules of the American Arbitration Association.'
Interpretation
Forces arbitration in Australia/US, limiting user access to courts and class actions.
Source Text
'In no event will Canva be liable for any indirect, incidental... damages.'
Interpretation
Caps Canva's liability, potentially leaving users unprotected for data loss or service failures.
Source Text
Subscriptions auto-renew; must cancel to avoid charges.
Interpretation
Users risk unintended charges if forgetting to cancel.
Source Text
Users get revocable license to Canva elements for permitted uses.
Interpretation
Clear boundaries on Canva-provided assets promote fair use.
You retain ownership of your original content, but grant Canva a broad license to use it.