Monitored company
Snowflake
clause.watch tracks 2 legal documents published by Snowflake (snowflake.com), re-reading each one every six hours. Below is what each document covers, in plain English.
Privacy notice
Snowflake Privacy Notice: User Overview
> Scope is important: This Notice generally covers information Snowflake collects directly through its websites, services, support, events, and marketing. It does not govern “Customer Data” that a Snowflake customer uploads to the Service. That data is processed on the customer’s behalf, under the customer’s agreement with Snowflake and the customer’s own privacy notice.
1. Data Collection & Usage
Information collected
Snowflake may collect:
- Contact and identity data: name, email, postal address, phone number, job title, employer, and account details.
- Payment information: credit-card information for self-service billing.
- Communications: support-ticket information, survey responses, feedback, and potentially audio transcripts or audiovisual recordings from calls.
- Technical and usage data: IP address, operating system, browser, device details, access times, logs, click patterns, feature usage, API/system data, and service-consumption data.
- Marketing and commercial data: event registrations, interests, transaction information, engagement with advertisements, and information from public sources, partners, resellers, social media, and credit bureaus.
- Cookie and tracking data: browsing activity and identifiers used for analytics, personalization, and targeted advertising.
Purposes
Snowflake uses information to operate, secure, support, improve, and personalize its offerings; process payments; prevent fraud and abuse; provide notices and account communications; conduct research and development; market products and events; analyze usage; comply with law; and evaluate customer relationships.
Snowflake states it will not use information for materially different or incompatible purposes without notice.
Key risk
The purposes are broad, especially “legitimate business purposes,” analytics, personalization, advertising, and product improvement. Retention periods are not specific; Snowflake keeps data while it has an ongoing legitimate business need, including legal, tax, accounting, contractual, or backup-related reasons.
2. User Rights
Depending on location, users may request to:
- Access or obtain a copy of personal information.
- Correct or update information.
- Delete information.
- Learn the categories, sources, purposes, and recipients of collected information.
- Object to or restrict processing.
- Receive portable data.
- Withdraw consent where consent is the legal basis.
- Appeal a denied request where legally required.
- Complain to Snowflake or a relevant data-protection authority.
California residents may also opt out of the sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising and use browser signals such as Global Privacy Control where recognized.
Snowflake may verify identity before responding and may require authorization for an agent. Rights concerning data submitted by a Snowflake customer must generally be directed to that customer, not Snowflake.
3. Third-Party Sharing
Snowflake may share information with:
- Affiliates.
- Vendors and service providers for hosting, billing, payments, support, marketing, analytics, security, and fraud prevention.
- Distributors, referral partners, joint-marketing partners, and Snowflake Marketplace providers.
- Partners involved in products or promotions the user purchases or expresses interest in.
- Authorities or other parties when legally required or necessary to protect rights, safety, or property.
- A successor entity in a merger, acquisition, financing, restructuring, or sale.
De-identified, aggregated, pseudonymized, or anonymized information may also be disclosed. Partners may use information under their own privacy notices, and Snowflake says it does not control those uses.
Third-party websites and applications are governed by their own terms and privacy policies.
4. AI/ML Training
Yes. Snowflake expressly states that it may use collected information to “train” machine-learning and artificial-intelligence models.
The Notice excludes Customer Data from its scope and says Snowflake processes Customer Data under the customer agreement. However, it does not clearly explain whether all Usage Data, support content, recordings, feedback, or other personal information is excluded from training. Users should review their customer agreement and seek clarification if AI training is sensitive.
5. Key User Obligations and Choices
- Authorized Users must comply with the customer’s Snowflake agreement and applicable law.
- Users should review the customer’s privacy notice for Customer Data.
- Users are responsible for reviewing third-party terms before linking or using third-party applications.
- Promotional emails can be stopped through unsubscribe links or Snowflake’s preference center, but essential account and relationship communications may continue.
- Cookies and advertising tracking can be managed through Snowflake’s cookie controls and, where applicable, browser opt-out signals.
6. Liability & Disputes
This Notice contains no detailed liability cap, warranty disclaimer, indemnity, governing-law clause, arbitration provision, or court-selection clause. Those issues are likely addressed in the applicable Snowflake customer agreement or website/service terms.
For Customer Data, the customer—not Snowflake—is identified as responsible for collection and use, and the customer agreement controls processing. Privacy complaints may be submitted to Snowflake or, where applicable, a data-protection authority.
7. Changes
Snowflake may change the Notice by updating its date. For material changes, it says it may provide additional notice, such as a website statement or email. The wording (“may”) does not guarantee advance individual notice or consent, so users should periodically review the Notice.
Site terms
Snowflake Site Terms: User Overview
> Scope: These terms govern use of snowflake.com and related site features. Separate Snowflake service agreements or online terms govern use of Snowflake products and services; those agreements prevail if there is a conflict.
1. Data Collection & Usage
The Site Terms themselves do not provide a complete description of data practices. They incorporate Snowflake’s separate Privacy Notice, which governs collection, use, disclosure, and processing of personal information.
Based on the Terms, Snowflake may collect:
- Account information: name, email address, job role, username, and password or access codes.
- Information you submit: comments, feedback, suggestions, ideas, uploaded materials, and community posts.
- Technical or usage information: the Privacy Notice may address information such as IP addresses, browser/device data, and Site activity, but those details are not stated in this document.
Snowflake may use submitted content to operate, improve, modify, develop, or provide the Site, Materials, or Services. You should review the current Privacy Notice before using the Site, particularly if submitting personal, confidential, or business-sensitive information.
2. User Rights
These Terms do not expressly describe rights to:
- Access, correct, delete, or export personal information;
- Object to or restrict processing;
- Withdraw consent; or
- Appeal privacy decisions.
Any such rights, including region-specific rights under laws such as the GDPR or California privacy law, must be determined from the separate Privacy Notice and applicable law.
You may stop using the Site if you disagree with the Terms. Snowflake may revoke access, block your IP address, or disable features at any time, potentially without advance notice.
3. Third-Party Sharing
The Terms do not specify a complete list of third parties receiving personal information. The Privacy Notice controls those disclosures.
The Site may link to external websites and integrate with third-party services, including YouTube. Those providers operate under their own terms and privacy policies. Snowflake disclaims responsibility for their content, security, privacy practices, errors, or viruses. Information shared directly with a third party may therefore be governed by that party’s policies rather than Snowflake’s.
4. AI/ML Training
The Terms do not expressly state whether personal information or user content is used to train artificial intelligence or machine-learning models.
However, content you submit—such as suggestions, comments, and uploaded materials—is licensed to Snowflake on a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable basis. Snowflake may use, modify, create derivative works from, and commercially exploit that content, including to improve, develop, or provide the Site, Materials, or Services. This could potentially encompass AI-related development, but the Terms do not expressly confirm model training.
Do not submit confidential or proprietary ideas: suggestions are expressly treated as non-confidential, and Snowflake has no duty to protect them.
5. Key User Obligations and Restrictions
Users must:
- Be legally able to agree to the Terms and, generally, be over 18 or have appropriate consent.
- Provide accurate, current account information.
- Protect credentials and accept responsibility for account activity.
- Report unauthorized account use or security breaches.
- Use the Site only for personal, non-commercial purposes unless expressly authorized.
Prohibited conduct includes scraping or automated downloading, reverse engineering, disrupting the Site, introducing malicious code, infringing rights, impersonation, unlawful or deceptive use, spam, and uploading abusive, obscene, defamatory, fraudulent, or privacy-invading content.
Snowflake owns or licenses the Site’s content and intellectual property. Copying, modifying, redistributing, framing, commercially exploiting, or removing notices is generally prohibited.
6. Liability and Disputes
- The Site is provided “as is” without warranties, including fitness, merchantability, availability, accuracy, or non-infringement.
- Snowflake excludes liability for lost data, lost profits, business interruption, delays, and other indirect or consequential damages to the maximum extent permitted by law.
- Aggregate liability is capped at $100.
- You agree to indemnify Snowflake and related entities for third-party claims arising from your Site use or content.
- Delaware law applies. Disputes must generally be brought in state or federal courts in New Castle County, Delaware.
- You waive participation in class actions and must bring claims individually.
7. Changes to the Terms
Snowflake may revise the Terms by posting an updated version and changing the “Last Updated” date. Material changes will also be emailed to registered members at their last provided address.
For existing users, changes generally take effect 30 days after posting; for new users, immediately. Continued use constitutes acceptance. Users who disagree must stop using the Site.
Change history
2026-08-19 · Legal
Summary of Important Changes
> Note: The diff appears to contain substantial webpage-cookie text mixed with the contractual text. The analysis below focuses on the identifiable changes to Snowflake’s Terms of Service.
1. New comprehensive customer agreement
The prior content was largely a website cookie notice. The new text introduces a full Snowflake Terms of Service agreement governing customers that order or access Snowflake Offerings, including customers contracting directly or through a reseller.
Key implications:
- The agreement applies upon the earlier of:
- the customer’s initial access to a Snowflake Offering through an online process; or
- the effective date of the first Order Form referencing the agreement.
- Customer access or use may therefore create a binding contract before a separately negotiated agreement is signed.
- Customers must ensure that the person accepting the agreement has authority to bind the relevant entity.
2. Customer Data ownership and permitted processing
The new Section 2.1 states that the customer retains ownership of Customer Data. Snowflake receives a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free right to process Customer Data only as necessary to:
- provide the Snowflake Offerings;
- prevent or address service or technical problems; or
- comply with law.
This is generally favorable from a data-use perspective because it does not expressly grant Snowflake a broad right to use Customer Data for product development, analytics, advertising, or AI-model training.
However:
- The agreement does not expressly state that Customer Data will never be used to train, fine-tune, evaluate, or improve AI or machine-learning models.
- The phrase “necessary to provide” the Offerings could be interpreted broadly, particularly for AI-enabled features.
- Customers should seek an express contractual statement excluding Customer Data from model training unless specifically authorized.
3. Usage Data may be used to improve products
Section 4.2 newly or expressly authorizes Snowflake to collect and use Usage Data to develop, improve, support, and operate its products and services.
Usage Data includes:
- usage and operations data;
- query logs; and
- metadata, such as object definitions and properties.
Snowflake may not share Usage Data containing Customer Confidential Information with third parties except under the confidentiality provisions or after aggregation and anonymization.
AI-model risk
Although the clause does not mention AI, “develop and improve its products and services” could potentially include developing or improving AI or machine-learning systems. The definition of Usage Data is broad and may expose sensitive information through query text, metadata, object names, schemas, or operational patterns.
The clause should clarify:
- whether query contents or results are included;
- whether Usage Data may train general-purpose or customer-specific AI models;
- whether customers can opt out; and
- what anonymization standard applies.
4. Agreement modifications and acceptance
Snowflake may modify the agreement from time to time. Changes generally become effective:
- upon renewal of the then-current Subscription Term; or
- for a new Order Form after the updated terms take effect.
Snowflake will use reasonable efforts to notify customers. Continued use after the updated version takes effect constitutes acceptance. Customers may be required to click acceptance before renewal or otherwise agree to the modified terms.
Risk: Customers may be bound by updated terms through renewal or continued use, potentially without individually negotiated approval.
5. Major commercial and liability provisions
The new terms also add:
- non-cancelable and generally non-refundable fees;
- suspension rights for overdue fees or certain customer breaches;
- a 30-day post-termination data-retrieval period, followed by deletion;
- broad customer responsibility for User compliance and Customer Data legality;
- U.S. binding individual arbitration and class-action waiver;
- a general liability cap based on fees paid in the prior 12 months;
- a higher 2x cap for specified data-protection claims, subject to aggregation limitations.
These provisions materially limit customer remedies and may create operational and dispute-resolution risks.
Between 2024-03-19 and 2024-08-22 · Privacy notice
Between 2023-06-20 and 2024-03-19 · Privacy notice
Between 2022-07-11 and 2023-06-20 · Privacy notice
Between 2019-03-31 and 2020-09-30 · Privacy notice