Using Agents According to Our Usage Policy (original) (raw)

1. All Collections
2. Safeguards
3. Using Agents According to Our Usage Policy

All uses of agents and agentic features must continue to adhere to Anthropic’s Usage Policy. The following are intended to be non-exhaustive illustrations of how our Usage Policy applies to certain agentic uses. As agentic capabilities evolve, we will update this list with additional examples to help users understand what our Usage Policy covers in practice in agentic environments.

Do Not Use Agents for Surveillance or Unauthorized Data Collection

This includes using agents to:

• Monitor or track individuals’ online activities, behaviors, or movements without notification or consent
• Collect, compile, or analyze personal information to create profiles based on individuals’ protected attributes, sensitive characteristics, or personal circumstances
• Use facial recognition or biometric identification software or websites
• Conduct mass surveillance across multiple websites or platforms to send communications or engage in any form of targeted actions

Do Not Use Agents to Generate or Distribute Harmful Content

This includes using agents to:

• Create websites or domains that mimic legitimate webpages
• Generate content that leads to phishing, social engineering, or fraud
• Impersonate individuals (private or public) without their consent

Do Not Use Agents to Engage in Scaled Abuse

This includes using agents to:

• Spam government services, emergency systems, or crisis helplines
• Overwhelm servers with traffic to disrupt services (e.g., DDoS attacks)
• Coordinate harassment campaigns across multiple platforms or accounts
• Manipulate online polls, voting systems, or traffic metrics
• Create or manage multiple accounts to evade detection or circumvent platform safeguards
• Engage in click farming or artificial engagement (e.g., through likes or comments) on social media
• Automate influence operations or coordinated inauthentic behavior
• Bulk report people, users, or content through abuse reporting systems

Do Not Use Agents for Unauthorized System Access or Manipulation

This includes using agents to:

• Install malware, backdoors, or monitoring software without authorization
• Execute commands that attempt privilege escalation or system exploitation
• Perform actions that could compromise critical infrastructure or emergency services
• Engage in unauthorized, illegal, or fraudulent financial transactions (such as brokerage or investment advisory activities) or payment processing
• Access or modify another person's account using their stored credentials without authorization

Related Articles

Updates to our Acceptable Use Policy (now “Usage Policy”), Consumer Terms of Service, and Privacy PolicyExceptions to our Usage PolicyClaude Code usage analyticsBuy usage bundlesUse the Claude Agent SDK with your Claude plan

Did this answer your question?