Colgate-Palmolive
Consumer Staples
50
out of 100. Number 208 of 512, counting from the worst.
Where Colgate-Palmolive does well
- Renewals 2 of 20. Few problems found.
- Marketing emails include unsubscribe instructions, and you can opt out of affiliate and unaffiliated third-party direct-marketing sharing via Consumer Affairs. The policy grants review/correct/update/delete/restrict/portability rights, honored per applicable law, and explicitly asks users not to submit sensitive personal data. It links to industry ad opt-outs (aboutads.info, networkadvertising.org) and the Google Analytics opt-out, and describes cookie controls. The Terms of Use include a New Jersey carve-out (Section
- stating that liability disclaimers, indemnity and governing-law clauses do not apply where unenforceable under NJ law — a rare nod to state consumer protections.
Just by visiting or buying through Colgate's websites or apps you accept binding individual arbitration (AAA rules, New York) and give up your right to a jury trial, to sue in court, or to join a class action.
The fine print
6 clauses and findings from the draft archive, dated 1 October 2026. The plain English comes first; the small print is the company's own words. None of these has been checked yet.
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Just by visiting or buying through Colgate's websites or apps you accept binding individual arbitration (AAA rules, New York) and give up your right to a jury trial, to sue in court, or to join a class action. No opt-out is offered.
THESE TERMS OF USE CONTAIN A MANDATORY ARBITRATION PROVISION THAT ... REQUIRES THE USE OF ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS TO RESOLVE DISPUTES, RATHER THAN JURY TRIALS OR ANY OTHER COURT PROCEEDINGS OR CLASS ACTIONS OF ANY KIND. ... YOU AND COLGATE ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE TO WAIVE CERTAIN RIGHTS TO LITIGATE DISPUTES IN COURT, TO RECEIVE A JURY TRIAL OR TO PARTICIPATE AS A PLAINTIFF OR AS A CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLAIM ON A CLASS OR CONSOLIDATED BASIS OR IN A REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY.
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Any review, photo or comment you post can be used by Colgate forever, worldwide, royalty-free — even sublicensed to vendors and built into other works — with no pay and no notice to you. The terms themselves warn: don't post anything you don't want to license to us.
By Posting User Content, you represent and warrant that you ... do grant, to Colgate a revocable, perpetual, unlimited, non-exclusive, fully paid, royalty-free, transferable, worldwide license (with a right to sublicense) to use, copy, perform, display, share with vendors, and distribute such User Content to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works and into any form, medium, or technology, now known or hereafter developed, throughout the world ... all without any notification or compensation to you.
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Colgate shares your personal data with unaffiliated third parties so they can send you their own marketing, and with sweepstakes sponsors — i.e., your info leaves Colgate for outside companies' direct marketing, and you only escape it by proactively opting out through Consumer Affairs.
We disclose your Personal Data: ... To third parties, to enable them to send you marketing communications in accordance with your choices. ... To third parties sponsoring sweepstakes, contests and similar promotions in accordance with your choices.
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Colgate ignores your browser's Do Not Track signal, lets third-party ad companies cookie you for interest-based ads, and lets them link your phone to your laptop to recognize you across devices.
We do not respond to 'do not track' signals currently. ... We use third-party advertising companies to deliver advertising ... They accomplish this by placing or recognizing a unique cookie on your browser (including through web beacons). They also use these technologies, and the data they collect about your online usage practices, to recognize you across the devices you use, e.g., your mobile device and laptop.
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No fixed deletion date: data is kept 'as long as necessary or permitted' under vague criteria. Even after you delete a post, Colgate can keep archival copies — and anything already shared with third parties stays out there with no obligation to pull it back.
We retain Personal Data as long as necessary or permitted given the purpose(s) for which it was obtained, and in accordance with applicable laws and company policies. ... You may revoke [user-content licenses] by deleting the applicable licensed User Content ... However, we may retain copies of such User Content for non-public, non-commercial, archival use and ... to the extent that we may have already distributed your User Content to a third party we have no obligation to retrieve or cause such third party to cease using such User Content.
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Colgate can change the terms at any time; the only 'notice' may be a refreshed date at the top of the page, and just continuing to visit the site counts as agreeing to the new terms.
Colgate may revise the Terms of Use periodically and will notify you of a change by updating the 'Last Updated' date above and/or by posting such change in your App notifications. By continuing to use the Service after revisions become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Terms of Use.
How these were found
US Terms of Use URL (colgate.com/en-us/legal-privacy/terms-and-conditions-of-use, cited in third-party index) returned 404 when fetched, so the South Africa-hosted page rendering the identical global Terms of Use template was read instead — it is clearly the US template (governed by New York law, AAA arbitration). The current US legal hub (colgatepalmolive.com/en-us/legal-privacy-policy) shows 'Global Privacy Policy — Last Updated: January 2025', but the policy body text loads in a JS accordion and did not render in the fetch; the official elmex.be-hosted PDF of the same Global Privacy Policy (French, dated 16.05.18) was read for privacy clauses, so some wording may differ from the January 2025 English version. Colgate-Palmolive is a consumer-products brand company: no consumer subscription products were found on its public sites, so the auto-renew surface is essentially nonexistent and the data surface is limited to accounts, newsletters and promotions; the modest score reflects that.
These notes come from the original draft and are not independent verification.