Risk Score
0 = very fair · 100 = very risky
Summary
This document is Slack's User Terms of Service governing individual users (Authorized Users) who join workspaces created by a 'Customer' (typically an employer or organization). The terms establish that the Customer — not the individual user — owns all content and data submitted to the platform, and the Customer has broad control over that data. Slack's liability to individual users is capped at $100, and the document explicitly attempts to disclaim consumer law protections. Overall, the terms are fairly typical for a B2B SaaS platform, though they are notably weighted toward the Customer and Slack rather than the individual user.
Flagged Clauses
Anything you type, send, or upload in Slack — messages, files, etc. — is legally owned by your employer or the workspace owner (the 'Customer'), not by you. The Customer can access, modify, export, or delete it.
“When an Authorized User submits content or information to the Services, such as messages or files ('Customer Data'), you acknowledge and agree that the Customer Data is owned by Customer.”
Your employer or workspace owner can share your messages and files with third-party tools, export them, transfer them to other workspaces, or delete them entirely — all without needing your individual consent.
“Customer may provision or deprovision access to the Services, enable or disable third party integrations, manage permissions, retention and export settings, transfer or assign workspaces, share channels, or consolidate your workspace or channels with other workspaces or channels, and these choices and instructions may result in the access, use, disclosure, modification or deletion of certain or all Customer Data.”
Slack places the responsibility for obtaining your consent for data processing entirely on your employer/workspace owner, not on Slack itself. If your employer fails to inform you of what is being done with your data, Slack is not responsible.
“AS BETWEEN US AND CUSTOMER, YOU AGREE THAT IT IS SOLELY CUSTOMER'S RESPONSIBILITY TO... OBTAIN ANY RIGHTS, PERMISSIONS OR CONSENTS FROM YOU AND ANY AUTHORIZED USERS THAT ARE NECESSARY FOR THE LAWFUL USE OF CUSTOMER DATA.”
No matter what Slack does wrong in relation to you as an individual user, the maximum they can be held liable to pay you is $100 total.
“OUR MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY BREACH OF THE USER TERMS IS ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100) IN THE AGGREGATE.”
Both you and Slack waive the right to claim indirect or consequential damages from each other, meaning even significant real-world harms caused by a breach may not be compensable beyond the $100 cap.
“IN NO EVENT WILL YOU OR WE HAVE ANY LIABILITY TO THE OTHER FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR REVENUES OR FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, COVER OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES HOWEVER CAUSED.”
Slack makes no guarantees about the quality, reliability, or fitness of its services as far as individual users are concerned. If the service fails or causes problems, Slack is not making any promises about making it right for you.
“SLACK MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO YOU RELATING TO THE SERVICES, WHICH ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN 'AS IS' AND 'AS AVAILABLE' BASIS.”
Your access can be terminated at any time by either Slack or your employer/workspace owner. You have no independent right to maintain access; it depends entirely on the Customer keeping you active.
“These User Terms remain effective until Customer's subscription for you expires or terminates, or your access to the Services has been terminated by Customer or us.”
Slack can disable your account based on its own determination of 'credible risk of harm,' which is a broad and subjective standard with no defined appeal process described here.
“We may directly step in and take what we determine to be appropriate action (including disabling your account) if Customer does not take appropriate action or we believe there is a credible risk of harm to us, the Services, Authorized Users, or any third parties.”
Slack can change these terms and simply notify you by email or in-app message. Continuing to use Slack after the change takes effect counts as agreeing to the new terms, even if you didn't actively review or consent to them.
“As our business evolves, we may change these User Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy. If we make a material change... we will provide you with reasonable notice prior to the change taking effect either by emailing the email address associated with your account or by messaging you through the Services. If you use the Services after the effective date of any changes, that use will constitute your acceptance of the revised terms and conditions.”
Slack asks you to agree that consumer protection laws don't apply to your use of the service, since it's framed as a business tool. This could limit legal protections you might otherwise have as an individual.
“Slack is a workplace tool intended for use by businesses and organizations and not for consumer purposes. To the maximum extent permitted by law, you hereby acknowledge and agree that consumer laws do not apply.”
There is no explicit license granted by individual users to Slack for their content (beyond what flows through the Customer relationship). Intellectual property rights over your messages sit with the Customer entity.
“Customer Data is owned by Customer. Authorized Users submit content that becomes Customer Data.”
If Slack is sold or merges with another company, your agreement automatically transfers to the new owner without you being asked for consent.
“We may assign these User Terms in their entirety... without your consent, to a corporate affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition, corporate reorganization, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets.”
Missing Protections
- No explicit arbitration or class action waiver clause in these User Terms (may be handled in the Customer contract, but not disclosed here)
- No description of what happens to user data upon account termination or workspace deletion
- No defined appeals or dispute process for individual users whose accounts are disabled by Slack
- No explicit data retention or deletion policy described in these terms (deferred to Privacy Policy without details)
- No portability rights described — no mention of a user's ability to export their own messages or files
- No explicit notification rights to users if Customer transfers or exports their data to third parties
- No description of the specific conditions under which Slack itself (not Customer) may access user message content
Fair Terms
- Slack commits to providing 'reasonable notice' before material changes to the terms take effect, rather than changes being effective immediately
- Non-material changes require no notice beyond publishing, but material changes trigger advance email or in-app notification
- The document acknowledges that consumer laws may still apply in certain jurisdictions (e.g., Australia) and cannot be fully excluded
- Slack states it will generally ask the Customer to take corrective action before directly intervening with a user's account
- Individual users have no financial liability to Slack for breaches of these User Terms (unless they are also a Customer)
- Attorney's fees may be recovered by the prevailing party in any enforcement action, which could benefit users if they prevail
Document information only — not legal advice.