Your Shopify store collects customer data the moment someone visits. Generate a privacy policy that names your actual payment processor, analytics tools, and marketing apps — not generic boilerplate.
Generate Shopify Privacy Policy — Free →Shopify provides a basic privacy policy template, but it's generic and may not cover your specific data practices, third-party apps, or marketing tools. A tailored privacy policy that names your actual services is more compliant and builds more trust.
Typical Shopify stores collect: customer names, email addresses, shipping/billing addresses, payment information (processed by Shopify Payments or Stripe), browsing behavior, IP addresses, and cookies. If you use marketing apps (Klaviyo, Mailchimp), those collect additional data.
If you sell to customers in the EU (even if your store is based elsewhere), you need GDPR compliance. This means disclosing your legal basis for processing, listing data subject rights, and naming your data processor (Shopify).
If your store meets CCPA thresholds (gross revenue over $25M, 50K+ California consumers, or 50%+ revenue from selling personal info), you must comply. Even below thresholds, having CCPA-compliant language builds trust with California customers.
Shopify offers a basic privacy policy template under Settings > Legal in your admin panel. However, it's a generic starting point that doesn't account for the third-party apps you've installed, the specific analytics or marketing tools you use, or the cookies they set. If you use any apps beyond Shopify's defaults, the built-in template won't accurately reflect your store's data practices.
Any Shopify app that accesses, collects, or processes customer data should be disclosed in your privacy policy. Common examples include Klaviyo and Omnisend (email marketing), Judge.me and Loox (product reviews that collect customer names and photos), ReCharge (subscription billing), and any app that installs tracking scripts. If an app touches customer data, it belongs in your policy.
Yes, if your store receives visitors from the EU. The GDPR and ePrivacy Directive require that you obtain consent before setting non-essential cookies — and most Shopify stores set analytics and marketing cookies by default. Shopify does not provide a cookie consent banner out of the box, so you'll need a third-party solution or custom implementation to stay compliant.