Shopify
- The documents do not say whether your data trains AI.
- Your data is used for personalized ads, including by third-party ad companies.
- Data is shared with partners and affiliates; you can opt out.
- The documents do not say who can read your content.
Shopify takes a broad license to your store content, can close accounts without notice, and does not refund fees.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
Account info, store and purchase data, devices, browsing, and sometimes photos, IDs, location, and emails.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“To provide our apps and services to you, we must process information about you, including Personal Data.”
Training
They use your data to run the platform, fight fraud, personalize, market, and do machine learning.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We use your information for a range of purposes connected to the provision and improvement of our services”
Sharing
Service providers, advertisers, merchants, partners, and sometimes law enforcement can receive data.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We do not "sell" your Personal Data as that term is defined under US Privacy Laws.”
Kept
They keep data while you use Shopify; closed merchant stores can sit for two years.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“If you are a merchant operating a Shopify-powered store, and you close the store, stop paying your subscription fees, or we terminate your account, we retain store information for two years before we begin the deletion process.”
Controls
You can request access or deletion through their privacy portal or Shop delete-account page.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“To exercise your rights, including the "right to know" and "," please submit a request through our online portal.”
Fine print
They can close your account without notice, take a broad license to your materials, and do not refund fees.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“Shopify does not provide refunds.”
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
Request access or deletion of your data
Privacy portal; Shop/Shop Pay users: https://shop.app/delete-account
Cancel your merchant account
Contact Shopify Support and follow the instructions in their reply
Turn off Shopify Network Intelligence
The Enhanced Services setting described in the Terms (link labeled “here” in section 9.2)
Opt out of certain cookies
Shopify Cookie Policy linked from the privacy policy
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
They can shut your store and account whenever they want, even without warning.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“we may suspend or terminate your Account or the Terms of Service for any reason, without notice and at any time (unless otherwise required by law)”
For example, your store could go offline overnight and you would not get a heads-up email first.
If a customer or someone else sues over your store, you may have to pay Shopify’s legal bills.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“You agree to and hold us and (as applicable) our parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, Shopify partners, officers, directors, agents, employees, and suppliers harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees”
For example, a buyer sues over a late shipment and Shopify’s lawyers get involved—you could be on the hook for those fees.
They get a wide, shareable license to your product photos, text, and other store content.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“You hereby grant Shopify a non-exclusive, transferable, , , worldwide right and license to host, use, distribute, expose, modify, run, copy, store, publicly perform, communicate to the public”
For example, they can copy and show your product photos in Shopify ads or partner channels.
If you cancel or they shut you off, prepaid subscription money is not coming back.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“Shopify does not provide refunds.”
For example, you pay for a month, close the store a week later, and keep none of that fee.
After you close a merchant store, they can keep that store’s information for two years.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“we retain store information for two years before we begin the deletion process.”
For example, product and order records from a closed shop can stay in their systems for 24 months.
Your information can go to companies that run ads and marketing, not only to Shopify staff.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“Advertisers and marketing vendors;”
For example, a marketing vendor could get identifiers used to measure or target ads.
If you upload photos or videos, those files can include faces and are treated as personal data they collect.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“Photos and videos, which may include face imagery, if you choose to provide them.”
For example, a product video with your face in it is stored as personal data.
They say they do not sell personal data under those US legal definitions.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We do not "sell" your Personal Data as that term is defined under US Privacy Laws.”
For example, they claim a California “sale” opt-out is not needed because they do not sell under that law.
Outside auditors check how they store data and handle payment systems.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We also have independent auditors assess the security of our data storage and systems that process financial information.”
For example, card data systems are reviewed by independent security auditors.
You have to be 18 or the adult age where you live to open a merchant account. They rely on you saying so.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“You must be the older of: (i) 18 years, or (ii) at least the age of majority in the where you reside and from which you use the Services to open an Account.”
For example, a 17-year-old is not allowed to open a Shopify store account under these terms.
You sue in specific courts (like Ontario or Ireland), not wherever you live.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“Any dispute or claim relating to the Services or these Terms of Service can only be brought in the courts listed in the table below.”
For example, a US merchant may have to go to Ontario courts to fight a contract dispute.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- personal data
- Any information that is about you or can be linked to you, from your name to your phone's ID. For example, your email, your IP address and the list of apps on your phone are all personal data.
- sell or share
- Under California law, selling means passing your data to others for money or other value; sharing means passing it on for targeted ads. For example, letting an ad network use your browsing history in return for ad space counts as a sale.
- retention
- How long a company keeps your data before deleting it. For example, a policy might keep your messages for 30 days after you delete them, or for as long as it likes.
- right to erasure
- Your right to have a company delete the personal data it holds about you, with some exceptions. For example, you can ask a social app to wipe your old posts and profile and it must, unless a law says otherwise.
- indemnify
- You promise to pay the company's legal costs and losses if your use of the service gets it sued. For example, if you post a song you do not own and the label sues the app, you owe the app's lawyer bills.
- affiliates
- Other companies owned by or connected to the same parent company. For example, if you use one app, its sister apps under the same owner may also get your data.
- sublicensable
- The company can pass its rights over your content on to other companies without asking you. For example, an app can let an advertiser or a partner reuse your video under the licence you gave.
- royalty-free
- The company can use your content without ever paying you for it. For example, your photo can appear in the app's ads and you get nothing.
- worldwide license
- You let the company use your content anywhere on earth, usually for free and for as long as it likes. For example, a video you post can be shown in ads in any country without asking you again.
- service providers
- Outside companies that handle your data on the app's instructions, such as a cloud host or an email sender. For example, the company that stores the app's files in the cloud sees your data but only does what the app tells it.
- governing law
- Which country's or state's laws are used to settle any dispute, no matter where you live. For example, a user in Ohio may find the terms are judged under California law.
How we got here · grade F · score 32/100 · 15 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 2 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect more than account and content: devices, IP, browsing, inferences, photos, commercial data, and some sensitive items like IDs and Shop location.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
They collect photos and videos that may include face imagery if you provide them, as personal data tied to use of the service.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
Not stated in the documents.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
Not stated in the documents.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
They list advertisers and marketing vendors as recipients and use cookies, pixels, and social plugins.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They say they do not sell under US privacy laws, but they share with partners, merchants, and advertisers; US residents can use privacy rights and cookie opt-outs.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You keep ownership, but you grant a transferable, sublicensable worldwide license that can survive for rights that arose during the term.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
You can request deletion, but merchant store information can be kept for two years after a store closes before deletion starts.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
They collect inferences about preferences and interests to personalize, without describing memory controls you can edit or turn off.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They say independent auditors assess data storage and financial systems, and they cite PCI DSS compliance.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
Merchant accounts require you to be 18 or the age of majority where you live. There is no extra age-check described.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
The terms are dated August 1, 2026, and they promise notice of significant or material changes, but retention and many purposes stay general.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
You can cancel by contacting support, but they may suspend or terminate for any reason without notice.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
Services are as-is with broad damage disclaimers, and you must indemnify Shopify for claims tied to your store and use.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
Subscription fees are billed in advance on a cycle, they keep charging until you terminate, and they say they do not provide refunds. Fee changes get 30 days’ notice.
The privacy policy is 3,509 words at a college graduate level (Flesch reading ease 30.4); the terms are 11,794 words at a college level.
