BeReal privacy policy (Nov 3, 2026): 5-year inactivity deletion, new ad measurement partners and store-visit tracking

What changed

BeReal updated its Privacy Policy. The live page says "Last updated: November 3, 2026." Our previous copy (archived Sept 30, 2026) said "Last updated: June 30, 2026." Two things changed in substance.

Change 1: Inactive accounts are kept for five years

Before, an unused account "may be deleted" after three years of inactivity in the U.S. and after two years in Europe and everywhere else. Now there is one rule for everyone: five years. BeReal says the longer period exists because it keeps your posts as a personal archive (Memories) "so that you can find it again whenever you come back to the App." The phrase "To minimize data retention" was removed from both sentences where it appeared. Inactivity still runs from your "most recent login or connection to the App."

The warning is now firmer. The old text said BeReal "may send you a prior notice via text message (SMS)". The new text says "Before your account is deleted, BeReal will send you a prior notice." It still goes only by text message to the phone number on the account. If you have changed numbers, you may never see it.

In practice, a European user who stopped opening BeReal in late 2024 would have faced deletion under the old two-year rule. Under the new rule, their photos stay on BeReal's servers until about 2029 unless they delete them.

Change 2: A new kind of ad partner, and store-visit measurement

Section 3 adds "Advertising measurement partners" as a new kind of third party. These partners process data "under their own control". BeReal "may share mobile advertising IDs, device identifiers and advertising-exposure data" with them. The uses are app-install attribution and, "where you agree, visits to physical locations following advertising exposure." The ad-measurement row in Section 2 now covers "attributing app installs and other conversions". It adds Geolocation Data (location inferred from your IP address) and advertising-exposure data, and says visit results are "provided to us in aggregated form."

What the consent wording does and doesn't say

- "Where you agree" applies only to the store-visit measurement. The row as a whole, including install attribution and sharing your ad ID, still relies on "Your consent, where required by applicable law; otherwise, our legitimate interest." Outside places that legally require consent, BeReal does not promise to ask first. - "Aggregated form" describes what BeReal gets back. It does not describe what partners receive. They get device-level IDs and advertising-exposure data, and the policy does not say how they decide that a visit happened. - The in-app consent instructions were not updated. "Modify my consents" is still described as covering Ad Partners and the use of machine learning on your photos. It does not mention measurement partners by name, so we can't confirm from the policy that a separate toggle exists. - U.S. section 9.4 already listed "Advertising and measurement partners" in the June version. What's new is the Section 3 category and the store-visit purpose, not the U.S. disclosure category.

Who the "measurement partners" are

The new paragraph says you "will find a list of our partners" via a link. That link goes to the same Ad Partners page in BeReal's Help Center that the existing Ad Partners paragraph uses (help.bereal.com, checked Nov 7, 2026). It lists 93 companies: ad exchanges, ad networks and demand-side platforms such as Google Ad Manager, Meta, Amazon, AppLovin, The Trade Desk and Vistar Media. None is marked as a measurement partner. The page doesn't name the mobile attribution firms such as AppsFlyer, Adjust, Branch, Kochava or Singular, or any company that does store-visit measurement. So from the published list you can't tell which company would work out whether you visited a store.

How five years compares

Google's inactive-account policy lets it delete a personal Google Account after at least two years of inactivity across Google (support.google.com, checked Nov 7, 2026). BeReal used to sit close to that, at two years in Europe and three in the U.S. It now waits more than twice as long. BeReal's own justification is the Memories archive. The old policy gave a different reason for its shorter periods: "To minimize data retention." That phrase is gone.

What stays the same

Interest inference from your photos and gender inference from your profile, for internal ad targeting, are unchanged. So are hashed phone-number matching for advertisers, the UX recording of 0.001% of users, the 15-day account deletion grace period and the 10-year retention of transaction records.

Coverage (checked again Nov 7, 2026, afternoon): we did not find an announcement from BeReal or any press coverage of this update. Only automated policy trackers (TermsWatch, which draws on Open Terms Archive) logged it.

Who it affects

All BeReal users, especially people who have stopped opening the app (whose accounts and Memories now stay around much longer) and anyone who has agreed to ad tracking

Quick answers

How long before BeReal deletes an inactive account?

Five years without logging in, under the policy last updated Nov 3, 2026. Before, it was three years in the U.S. and two years elsewhere.

Will BeReal warn me before deleting my account?

The policy now says BeReal "will send you a prior notice via text message (SMS)" to the phone number on your account. The old wording only said it "may."

Does BeReal track whether I visit stores after seeing ads?

Only "where you agree," according to the policy. Measurement partners receive your mobile advertising ID, device identifiers and ad-exposure data, and BeReal says it gets the visit results back only in aggregated form.

How do I opt out?

In the app, go to Privacy settings → "Modify my consents." U.S. users can also opt out of sale, sharing and targeted advertising by emailing dpo@bere.al. Resetting your phone's advertising ID also limits ad matching.

Which companies are BeReal's advertising measurement partners?

The policy links to BeReal's Help Center Ad Partners page. As of Nov 7, 2026, it lists 93 ad companies, such as Google, Meta, Amazon and The Trade Desk. None is labeled as a measurement partner, and no store-visit measurement company is named.

Is five years longer than other apps?

Yes, compared with Google, which can delete a personal account after two years of inactivity. BeReal's own old limit was two years in Europe and three in the U.S.

Source

Detected on the BeReal privacy page: https://bereal.com/privacy. Always check the source; this summary is not legal or financial advice.

Other sources:

• BeReal Privacy Policy (live, last updated Nov 3, 2026)
• BeReal Privacy Policy (Wayback Sept 30, 2026 capture of June 30, 2026 text)
• BeReal Help Center: Ad Partners (list linked from the policy, checked Nov 7, 2026)
• Google Account Help: Inactive Google Account policy (two years)

Provenance: detected in our Nov 7 snapshot of the BeReal privacy page. Excerpts marked "Quoted from the documents" come from the sources linked above.

Published by QuietlyChanged: pages tracked automatically, each change reviewed by a person before publishing. About · Contact & corrections