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Airtable

airtable.com

24 flagged clauses across 8 risk dimensions

D
⏱️
0min

to read this ToS

Airtable's fine print is longer than you think.

🎧Longer than your Spotify Wrapped — for ALL of last year.

Caffeine required:

The 5 things you actually need to know

  • 1

    They can use your data for AI training, but you can opt out of some AI features.

  • 2

    You give them a broad license to use, copy, and modify your content for any purpose.

  • 3

    You agree to arbitration and give up your right to sue in a class action.

  • 4

    If you cancel, you won't get a refund for the current billing period.

  • 5

    They can change the terms anytime, and continued use means you agree.

Generated by AI from the actual contract — but for the lawyer-level breakdown, scroll down 👇

🤖

AI training

2 flags
  • Severity 3
    "You agree that we and our third-party tools may monitor and retain a transcript of all communications with you via these interactive tools in order to provide the tools and for quality and verification purposes."

    Airtable and its third-party tools can monitor and keep records of all your communications through their interactive tools for service provision, quality, and verification.

    Any conversations you have with Airtable's support or interactive features are recorded and retained, potentially including sensitive information.

    ⚖️Matches The New York Times Co. v. OpenAI & Microsoft (2023)
  • Severity 3
    "You (on behalf of yourself and your Organization, if applicable, and your other licensors) grant, and you represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to grant, us an irrevocable, transferable, sublicensable (through multiple tiers), fully paid, royalty-free, and worldwide right and license to access, use, copy, store, modify, and display Your Content solely: (i) to provide, maintain, improve, or optimize use of our Services; (ii) to perform such other actions as authorized by you in connection with your use of our Services; (iii) where necessary (in our sole discretion) to ensure the stability and security of our Services and our systems; and (iv) for any other purpose consistent with the Privacy Policy."

    Airtable gets a broad, royalty-free license to use your content to provide, maintain, improve, and secure their services, or for any purpose in their Privacy Policy.

    While it says "solely" for service improvement, the broad "consistent with Privacy Policy" could allow for AI training or other uses of your data.

    ⚖️Matches Authors Guild v. OpenAI (2023)
🔄

Auto-renewal

1 flag
  • Severity 3
    "Unless and until canceled by you, all Subscription Plans will automatically renew for renewal terms equal in length to the original Subscription Term, at the applicable price as of the renewal date. If you do not want a Subscription Plan to renew, you must cancel it before the end of the Subscription Term via the Account Settings page on your Airtable Account). If you purchase a Subscription Plan, we (or our third-party service provider) will automatically charge you each year or month, as applicable, on the anniversary of the commencement of your subscription, using the payment information you have provided, until you cancel your subscription. By agreeing to these Terms and electing to purchase a Subscription Plan, you acknowledge that your Subscription Plan has recurring payment features and you accept responsibility for all recurring payment obligations prior to cancellation of your subscription by you or us."

    Airtable automatically renews your subscription for the same term length at the current price, charging your payment method unless you cancel via Account Settings before the term ends.

    If you forget to cancel, you'll be automatically charged for another full subscription term at whatever the current price is.

    ⚖️Matches FTC v. Amazon (Iliad Flow / Prime Enrollment) (2023)
💸

Price hikes

1 flag
  • Severity 3
    "We may change Subscription Plans, including by offering new services or features for additional fees and charges or by adding or amending fees and charges for existing Subscription Plans, in our sole discretion. Any change to a Subscription Plan’s pricing or payment terms will become effective in the billing cycle following notice of such change to you as provided in these Terms."

    Airtable can change subscription plans, add new fees for existing features, or increase prices at their discretion, with changes taking effect in the next billing cycle after they notify you.

    Your subscription costs could go up, or features you currently use might require extra payment, with relatively short notice.

    ⚖️Matches FTC v. MoviePass / Helios and Matheson Analytics (2021)
🌍

Data residency

1 flag
  • Severity 3
    "By using our Services, you acknowledge that we may collect, use, and disclose your personal information and aggregated and/or anonymized data as set forth in our Privacy Policy, and you acknowledge that you may have your personal information collected in, used in, transferred to, and processed in the United States."

    Airtable collects, uses, and shares your personal and anonymized data as described in their Privacy Policy, and your personal information will be processed in the United States.

    Your data, including personal information, will be stored and processed in the U.S., which might have different privacy laws than your location.

    ⚖️Matches Schrems II (Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland) (2020)
🚪

Termination friction

3 flags
  • Severity 4
    "We may permanently or temporarily terminate or suspend your access to our Services without notice or liability, without cause or for any reason, including if in our sole discretion you violate any provision of these Terms."

    Airtable can permanently or temporarily cut off your access to their services at any time, for any reason, without warning or being liable to you.

    They can shut down your account and access to your data instantly, even if you haven't done anything wrong, leaving you in the lurch.

    ⚖️Matches PayPal Account Hold / Freeze Class Action — settled for $4M (2021)
  • Severity 3
    "Discontinuing Trial Features, or making Trial Features inaccessible to you, may have the effect of making some or all of Your Content inaccessible to you."

    If Airtable discontinues or removes access to trial features, some or all of your content associated with those features might become inaccessible.

    Any data you put into trial features could be lost or locked away if Airtable decides to stop offering them.

    ⚖️Matches FTC v. Match Group (Match.com) (2019)
  • Severity 3
    "Subject to the preceding sentence, if you cancel or terminate your Subscription Plan, unless required by law, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A REFUND OF ANY PORTION OF ANY FEES PAID FOR THE THEN-CURRENT SUBSCRIPTION TERM AT THE TIME OF CANCELLATION."

    If you cancel your subscription, Airtable will not refund any fees you've already paid for the current subscription term, unless legally required.

    You won't get your money back for any unused portion of your subscription if you decide to cancel early.

    ⚖️Matches FTC v. Match Group (Match.com) (2019)
⚖️

Liability caps

10 flags
  • Severity 4
    "UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL WE BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, LOSS, OR INJURY RESULTING FROM HACKING, TAMPERING, OR OTHER UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OR USE OF OUR SERVICE OR YOUR ACCOUNT OR THE INFORMATION CONTAINED THEREIN."

    Airtable is never responsible for any damage, loss, or injury that happens because of hacking, tampering, or unauthorized access to your account or data.

    This means if Airtable's systems are breached and your data is compromised, they explicitly disclaim all liability for the consequences to you.

    ⚖️Matches Capital One Data Breach Class Action — settled for $190M (2022)
  • Severity 4
    "TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE ASSUME NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR: (I) ANY ERRORS, MISTAKES, OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT; (II) ANY PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER, RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SERVICE; (III) ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SECURE SERVERS AND/OR ANY AND ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION STORED THEREIN; (IV) ANY INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF TRANSMISSION TO OR FROM OUR SERVICE; (V) ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE THAT MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH OUR SERVICE BY ANY THIRD PARTY; (VI) ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF ANY CONTENT POSTED, EMAILED, TRANSMITTED, OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH OUR SERVICE; (VII) YOUR DATA; AND/OR (VIII) THE DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE, OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY."

    Airtable takes no responsibility for content errors, personal injury, unauthorized server access, service interruptions, viruses, content omissions, your data, or third-party misconduct.

    This is an extremely broad disclaimer, shifting almost all risk for service failures, security breaches, and data issues onto you.

    ⚖️Matches Capital One Data Breach Class Action — settled for $190M (2022)
  • Severity 3
    "However, we cannot guarantee that unauthorized third parties will never be able to defeat those measures or use Your Content for improper purposes. You understand that internet technologies have the inherent potential for disclosure. You acknowledge that you provide Your Content at your own risk."

    Airtable cannot guarantee that unauthorized parties won't access or misuse your content, and you acknowledge that you provide your content at your own risk.

    Even with security measures, Airtable isn't responsible if hackers or other third parties manage to access or misuse your data.

  • Severity 3
    "WE DO NOT ENDORSE OR ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY SUCH THIRD-PARTY SERVICE (EVEN WHERE WE PERFORM A REVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONALITY OR SECURITY OF SUCH A THIRD-PARTY SERVICE, SUCH AS AN EXTENSION DEVELOPED BY A THIRD-PARTY AND MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE AIRTABLE MARKETPLACE). IF YOU ACCESS A THIRD-PARTY SERVICE FROM OR WITH AIRTABLE OR SHARE YOUR CONTENT ON OR THROUGH ANY THIRD-PARTY SERVICE, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THESE TERMS AND OUR PRIVACY POLICY DO NOT APPLY TO YOUR USE OF SUCH SERVICES. YOU EXPRESSLY RELIEVE US FROM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF ANY THIRD-PARTY SERVICE."

    Airtable takes no responsibility for any third-party services, even those in their Marketplace, and you use them at your own risk.

    If a third-party integration causes data loss or security issues, Airtable is not liable, and their terms don't apply to that service.

  • Severity 3
    "WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, WE, OUR SUBSIDIARIES, OUR AFFILIATES, AND OUR LICENSORS DO NOT WARRANT THAT ANY CONTENT ON OUR SERVICE IS ACCURATE, RELIABLE OR CORRECT; THAT OUR SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; THAT OUR SERVICE WILL BE AVAILABLE AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME OR LOCATION, UNINTERRUPTED OR SECURE; THAT ANY DEFECTS OR ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED; OR THAT OUR SERVICE IS FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR MOBILE DEVICE OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM YOUR USE OF OUR SERVICE OR ANY DOWNLOAD OF CONTENT THROUGH THE USE OF OUR SERVICES."

    Airtable does not guarantee their service will be accurate, reliable, secure, error-free, or free of viruses, and you are solely responsible for any data loss or damage to your devices from using it.

    If the service has errors, goes down, or causes data loss, Airtable is not liable, and you bear the risk for any damage to your systems.

    ⚖️Matches Capital One Data Breach Class Action — settled for $190M (2022)
  • Severity 3
    "TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL WE OR OUR AFFILIATES, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, OR LICENSORS (OR OUR OR THEIR EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, OFFICERS, OR DIRECTORS) BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, OR DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, OUR SERVICES."

    Airtable is not liable for indirect damages like lost profits, data loss, or other intangible losses that result from using or being unable to use their services.

    If an outage or service issue causes your business to lose money or data, Airtable won't compensate you for those significant indirect costs.

    ⚖️Matches Capital One Data Breach Class Action — settled for $190M (2022)
  • Severity 3
    "IN NO EVENT WILL WE OR OUR AFFILIATES, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, OR LICENSORS (OR OUR OR THEIR EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, OFFICERS, OR DIRECTORS) BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY CLAIMS, PROCEEDINGS, LIABILITIES, OBLIGATIONS, DAMAGES, LOSSES, OR COSTS IN AN AMOUNT EXCEEDING THE AMOUNT OF FEES YOU PAID TO US HEREUNDER DURING THE TWELVE (12) MONTH PERIOD PRIOR TO WHEN THE CLAIM AROSE. THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS CUMULATIVE AND NOT PER CLAIM OR INCIDENT."

    Airtable's total liability for any claims is capped at the amount you paid them in the 12 months before the claim arose, regardless of how many incidents occur.

    If a major issue causes significant financial loss, Airtable's payout to you is limited to your last year's subscription fees, which might be a small fraction of your actual damages.

    ⚖️Matches Capital One Data Breach Class Action — settled for $190M (2022)
  • Severity 2
    "TRIAL FEATURES ARE PROVIDED TO YOU FOR TESTING PURPOSES ONLY, ON AN “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, LIABILITY, INDEMNITY, OR PERFORMANCE OBLIGATIONS."

    Airtable provides trial features "as is" for testing, meaning they offer no warranties, liability, or performance guarantees for them.

    This is standard for beta or trial features, but it means you can't hold them responsible if something goes wrong or doesn't work as expected.

  • Severity 2
    "Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these Terms, we will not be responsible for any damages, losses, or liability to you or anyone else if such damages, losses, or liability would have been prevented by the use of 2FA."

    Airtable is not responsible for any damages or losses if those issues could have been prevented by you using two-factor authentication (2FA).

    This is standard practice; if you don't enable 2FA and your account is compromised, Airtable won't be liable for the resulting damage.

  • Severity 2
    "OUR SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. USE OF OUR SERVICE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, OUR SERVICE IS PROVIDED WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM US OR THROUGH OUR SERVICE WILL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED HEREIN."

    Airtable provides its service "as is" and "as available," meaning they offer no warranties about its performance, suitability, or availability.

    This is standard for SaaS; it means Airtable isn't guaranteeing the service will always work perfectly or meet your specific needs.

🛡

Indemnification

2 flags
  • Severity 4
    "You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us and our affiliates, agents, suppliers, or licensors (and our and their employees, contractors, agents, officers, and directors) harmless from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, debt, and expenses (including attorney’s fees) arising from: (i) your access to or use of our Services; (ii) your violation of any aspect of these Terms, including your breach of any of your representations and warranties; (iii) your violation of any third-party right, including any right of privacy or intellectual property rights; (iv) your violation of any applicable law, rule, or regulation; (v) Your Content, including without limitation any misleading, false, or inaccurate information in Your Content; (vi) your willful misconduct; or (vii) any third party’s access to or use of our Services with your username(s), password(s), or other security code(s)."

    You agree to cover all of Airtable's legal costs and damages if any claim arises from your use of their services, your content, or anyone accessing your account with your credentials.

    This is a broad indemnification clause that shifts significant financial risk to you for many potential issues, including third-party access to your account.

    ⚖️Matches T-Mobile Data Breach Settlement — settled for $350M (2022)
  • Severity 3
    "We take no responsibility and assume no liability for Your Content. You shall be solely responsible for Your Content and the consequences of posting it, publishing it, sharing it, or otherwise making it available on our Services. You shall be solely responsible and indemnify us for Your Content."

    Airtable takes no responsibility for your content and makes you solely liable for anything you post, publish, or share, including any legal claims related to it.

    If your content causes a problem (like copyright infringement), you're on the hook for all legal costs and damages, not Airtable.

    ⚖️Matches T-Mobile Data Breach Settlement — settled for $350M (2022)
👻

Silent term changes

4 flags
  • Severity 4
    "We may, in our sole discretion, modify or update these Terms from time to time, and so you should review this page periodically. In such cases, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. When we change these Terms in a material manner, we will notify you that material changes have been made to these Terms, for example by posting the modified Terms on our website, by displaying a prominent notice within the Services, or through other communications. Your continued use of our Services after any change to these Terms constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms of Service. If you do not agree to any part of these Terms or any future Terms of Service, do not use or access (or continue to use or access) our Services, and delete your Airtable Account."

    Airtable can change these terms whenever they want, and your continued use of the service after they notify you (even just by updating their website) means you automatically agree to the new terms.

    You could be bound by new, potentially unfavorable terms without actively agreeing to them, and your only recourse is to stop using the service and delete your account.

    ⚖️Matches Italian DPA (Garante) v. WhatsApp — settled for $6M (2022)
  • Severity 3
    "We may change our Services, stop providing our Services or features of our Services to you or to our users generally, change or stop providing a particular Subscription Plan (defined below) or features thereof, or create usage limits for our Services."

    Airtable can change their services, remove features, stop offering certain subscription plans, or set new usage limits whenever they want.

    Features you rely on could disappear, or your subscription plan might change without your direct consent.

    ⚖️Matches X Corp. Verified User Class Action (2024)
  • Severity 3
    "We may change Subscription Plans, including by offering new services or features for additional fees and charges or by adding or amending fees and charges for existing Subscription Plans, in our sole discretion. Any change to a Subscription Plan’s pricing or payment terms will become effective in the billing cycle following notice of such change to you as provided in these Terms."

    Airtable can change subscription plans, add new features for extra fees, or amend existing fees at their discretion, with changes effective in the next billing cycle after notice.

    Your subscription plan could change significantly, potentially adding costs or altering features, with relatively short notice.

    ⚖️Matches X Corp. Verified User Class Action (2024)
  • Severity 2
    "These Terms, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you without our prior express written consent, but may be assigned by us without restriction. Any attempted transfer or assignment in violation hereof will be null and void."

    You cannot transfer your rights or the terms of service without Airtable's written permission, but Airtable can transfer them without any restrictions.

    This is standard; it means you can't easily hand over your account or contract to someone else, but Airtable can sell or transfer the contract to another company.

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