The personal attributes policy is the part of the Meta Advertising Standards that stops ads asserting or implying something sensitive about the person reading them. An ad may describe a product or service, but it must not suggest that it knows the viewer’s health, religion, sexual orientation, financial situation or similar traits.
How the personal attributes policy works
Meta lists the attributes it treats as sensitive. At the time of writing (October 2026) they include race or ethnic origin, religion or philosophical beliefs, age, sexual orientation or practices, gender identity, disability, physical or mental health (including medical conditions), financial vulnerability, voting status, trade union membership, criminal record and name. The concern is that an ad which says “you” alongside one of these traits implies that Meta, or the advertiser, knows something private about the person.
The test is the direction of the claim. Copy that addresses the reader directly about a trait is usually rejected; copy that describes the offer is usually fine. Compare these pairs:
- “Struggling with your debts?” (rejected) versus “Free, confidential debt advice for people in London” (acceptable).
- “Are you diabetic?” (rejected) versus “Recipes designed for people managing type 2 diabetes” (acceptable).
- “Meet other Christian singles near you” (rejected) versus “A dating app for Christians in the UK” (acceptable).
- “Over 50 and worried about your pension?” (rejected) versus “Pension reviews for people approaching retirement” (acceptable).
Images count as well as words. A picture captioned or framed so that it suggests the viewer has a condition can fail review even if the primary text is careful. The policy works alongside other rules: health and weight-loss ads also meet the health and body image policy, and credit, employment and housing ads must be declared as a special ad category.
Why it matters
The sectors most likely to hit this policy are the ones where personal circumstances drive the purchase: private clinics, therapists, debt and insolvency advisers, solicitors, recruitment, fertility, dating and ageing-related services. A rejected ad costs time; a pattern of rejections can damage the account’s standing and contribute to an account restriction.
The policy also lines up with how the UK treats sensitive data. Several of the listed attributes match the special category data that UK GDPR protects more strictly, and the CAP Code separately expects ads not to exploit vulnerability. Writing copy that respects the reader’s privacy keeps you on the right side of all three.
Common mistakes
- Opening with a “Do you…” or “Are you…” question about a condition, belief or money worry.
- Naming the audience’s trait in the second person Such as “your anxiety” or “your bad credit”.
- Assuming the targeting makes it acceptable. The policy judges the creative, not who you aimed it at.
- Fixing the headline and forgetting the image text or the wording in a video’s captions.
- Appealing a rejection without rewriting. Reviewers rarely reverse a decision on copy that plainly breaks the rule.
How to act on it
Rewrite around the service and the outcome rather than the reader’s situation. Describe who the service is for in the third person (“for people who…”), lead with what the person gets, and let the reader decide whether it applies to them. Read every text option, headline and overlay before launch, because Meta may rotate any of them into delivery.
If an ad is rejected, read the stated reason in Account Quality, change the wording, then resubmit or request a review. Policy checks before launch are part of my Facebook ads management service, and they matter most for regulated sectors such as Facebook and Instagram ads for clinics and healthcare.