How to avoid the Meta personal attributes policy

Why Meta rejects ads that say "your acne" or "are you over 50", which words trigger it, and how to rewrite Shopify ad copy so it talks about the product instead.

What this is for

Meta's personal attributes policy rejects ads that suggest the advertiser knows something private about the person seeing them. It catches a lot of ordinary ecommerce copy, because "your" plus a problem is the oldest pattern in direct response writing. source, checked 28 September 2026

The fix is rarely to drop the angle. It is to move the attribute from the reader to the product. This guide shows how to find the risky lines in your ads and rewrite them, with Meta's own allowed and rejected examples as the reference. For the other common rejection causes, see writing Facebook ads that pass review.

Time needed and what you need

Time needed: about 45 minutes. Most of it goes on the first pass through your existing ads; after that, checking a new ad takes a minute.

Every ad you run or plan to run, including image text and video voiceover scripts
Meta's Privacy Violations and Personal Attributes page open for reference
A spreadsheet with three columns: original line, attribute it implies, rewrite

The steps

1. Learn the list of protected attributes

The policy covers a fixed set of traits. Keep the list next to you while you work, because some are obvious (health) and some catch stores by surprise (age, finances, a person's name). source, checked 28 September 2026

2. Search your copy for the risky patterns

Look for "you" or "your" sitting next to one of those traits, and for questions that ask the reader to confirm one. These are the lines that get flagged.

"Your" + a body part or condition: your acne, your joints, your thinning hair
Questions: "Are you…", "Do you have…", "Struggling with…"
Age aimed at the reader: "Over 50?", "Now that you're a mum…"
Money aimed at the reader: "Can't afford…", "Bad credit?"

3. Move the attribute from the reader to the product

Say who the product is made for, not what the reader has. Meta's own health example shows the difference: a question asking whether the viewer has a condition is rejected, while an announcement about a product for that condition is allowed. source, checked 28 September 2026

"Your acne-prone skin will thank you" becomes "A cleanser made for acne-prone skin"
"Are your joints stiff in the morning?" becomes "Built for easy mornings"
"Over 50 and tired of reading glasses?" becomes "Readers in eight strengths"

4. Turn questions into statements

A question pointed at the reader nearly always implies an attribute, because it only makes sense if they have it. Rewrite each one as a plain statement about the product or the situation. "Can't sleep?" becomes "A weighted blanket for slower nights".

5. Keep "you" where it carries no attribute

You do not have to write in the third person. Meta explicitly allows second-person copy as long as it does not pin a trait on the reader, so "You'll want two of these" is fine. source, checked 28 September 2026

6. Mention age or gender only in passing

A product can be for an age group or a gender without the ad claiming the reader belongs to it. Meta's examples allow a line about a service for teens, and reject one that invites the viewer to meet "other seniors". source, checked 28 September 2026

7. Handle names carefully if you sell personalised products

A personalised-gift store can say it prints names. It cannot address the viewer by name or imply it knows theirs. Meta's example of an allowed line reads almost like a product description. source, checked 28 September 2026

8. Check the image and the video, not just the text

Overlay text on an image and words spoken in a video are part of the ad. A clean caption on a video whose voiceover opens with "Is your skin aging faster than your friends'?" still fails. Run the scripts and image text through the same search as step 2.

A worked example

For a men's grooming brand running 15 Meta ads
Worked example (an invented brand with invented numbers)
The brand exports all 15 live and draft ads, including video scripts, into the spreadsheet.
6 lines match the risky patterns: three about "your thinning hair", two opening with "Receding hairline?" and one saying "Your beard is patchy". 4 of these are rewritten, for example "Your thinning hair needs this" becomes "A thickening shampoo for fine hair". The other 2 relied entirely on the question and are dropped.
That leaves 13 ads, none of which tells the viewer what is wrong with them, and every product angle survived the rewrite.

Common mistakes

Dropping the angle instead of rewriting it. Meta's policy is about how you address the viewer, not about the subject. Its own guidance says to lead with what the product does. source, checked 28 September 2026

Thinking an image avoids the rule. A photo of someone frowning at a mirror with the headline "Sound familiar?" implies the same thing as the words would. Pair product images with product statements.

Writing the targeting into the copy. If the ad set is aimed at an age range or an interest, it is tempting to mirror it in the text ("Hey, new parents"). Let the targeting do the selecting and keep the text about the product.

Fixing one ad and not the template. The same phrasing tends to reappear in every new batch. Add your rejected lines and their rewrites to your brand voice guide so they are not written again.

Doing this with Tilly

Tilly's ads agent writes a set of ads for 25 credits and publishes them to Meta paused, and nothing goes out without your approval. Before you switch any of them on, run their text and scripts through step 2; the policy applies to every advertiser's copy, whoever wrote it.

Questions people ask

Can I still target people by age, gender or interest?

Targeting settings are a separate matter from what the ad says. This policy is about the wording and content of the ad. Keep the audience in the ad set and keep the claim about the viewer out of the copy.

Can a skincare ad mention wrinkles at all?

Yes, when it talks about the product. Meta lists a lotion ad about fighting wrinkles as allowed and a line asking the viewer if they want to look younger as not allowed. The skincare industry page covers the other claim rules for that category. source, checked 28 September 2026

Does naming a place count as a personal attribute?

No. Meta allows broad references that are not on its list, such as calling someone a New Yorker. A line like "Made for New Yorkers who walk everywhere" is fine. source, checked 28 September 2026

See this on your own store

Paste your store URL. The first pass takes about a minute and needs no account. Save a card (nothing is charged) and Tilly reads the whole store and works out who buys from you.