Privacy Policy for Shopify Store: Complete Guide (2026)

If you run a Shopify store, you are collecting personal data from your customers. Every order, every abandoned cart, every newsletter signup generates data that privacy laws require you to disclose. And with Shopify's ecosystem of apps and integrations, the data flows can be surprisingly complex.

The good news: getting a proper privacy policy for your Shopify store is straightforward once you know what to include. This guide walks you through everything, step by step.

Why Your Shopify Store Needs a Privacy Policy

There are three reasons you absolutely need one:

1. Legal requirement — GDPR (EU), CCPA (California), PIPEDA (Canada), and dozens of other laws require any website that collects personal data to have a privacy policy. An eCommerce store collects a lot of data.
2. Shopify requires it — Shopify's terms of service require merchants to maintain a privacy policy that complies with applicable laws.
3. Payment processors require it — Stripe, PayPal, and Shop Pay all require merchants to have a privacy policy explaining how customer data is handled.

Not having a privacy policy — or having an inadequate one — puts you at risk of fines, payment processing suspension, and loss of customer trust.

What Data Does Shopify Collect?

Before you can write your privacy policy, you need to understand what data your Shopify store collects. Here is the full picture:

Data Collected by Shopify Core

• Customer information — Name, email, phone number, shipping address, billing address
• Order data — Products purchased, order amounts, payment method, order history
• Payment data — Credit card details (processed via Shopify Payments / Stripe), PayPal details
• Device and browsing data — IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, time on site
• Cookies — Session cookies, cart cookies, analytics cookies, marketing cookies
• Account data — If you offer customer accounts: login credentials, saved addresses, order history

Data Collected by Third-Party Apps

This is where most Shopify merchants fall short. Every app you install may collect additional data:

• Email marketing (Klaviyo, Mailchimp) — Email addresses, purchase history, browsing behaviour, email engagement
• Reviews (Judge.me, Yotpo) — Customer names, review content, photos
• Live chat (Tidio, Gorgias) — Chat transcripts, contact details
• Analytics (Google Analytics, Lucky Orange) — Full browsing behaviour, heatmaps, session recordings
• Social media pixels (Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest) — Browsing data, purchase events, ad targeting data
• Upsell/cross-sell apps — Purchase patterns, product preferences

Your privacy policy for your Shopify store must disclose ALL of these data flows — not just what Shopify itself collects.

What Your Privacy Policy Must Include

1. What Data You Collect

List every category of personal data: contact information, payment details, device data, cookies, and any data from third-party apps. Be specific — "we collect personal information" is not enough.

2. How You Collect It

Explain the methods: checkout forms, account registration, cookies, tracking pixels, third-party integrations. If you use session recording tools, say so.

3. Why You Collect It

Every piece of data needs a stated purpose: order fulfilment, marketing, analytics, fraud prevention, customer support. Under GDPR, you also need a legal basis (consent, legitimate interest, contractual necessity).

4. Who You Share It With

Name the categories of third parties: payment processors (Stripe/PayPal), shipping carriers (Royal Mail, UPS), email marketing platforms, analytics providers, advertising networks. You do not need to name every company, but you need to identify the categories.

5. How Long You Keep It

State your data retention periods. For example: order data retained for 7 years (tax/accounting requirements), marketing data retained until consent is withdrawn, browsing data retained for 26 months.

6. Customer Rights

Under GDPR, CCPA, and other laws, customers have rights including:

• Right to access their data
• Right to correct inaccurate data
• Right to delete their data
• Right to data portability
• Right to opt out of data sales and targeted advertising
• Right to withdraw consent

7. Cookie Disclosure

List the cookies your store sets, their purpose, and their duration. Shopify sets several cookies by default (_shopify_s, _shopify_y, cart, etc.). Add any cookies from Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and other tools.

8. International Transfers

If you are UK/EU-based and use Shopify (hosted in Canada/US) or US-based services, you need to disclose international data transfers and the safeguards in place (Standard Contractual Clauses, adequacy decisions).

GDPR Requirements for Shopify Stores

If you sell to EU/UK customers — even if you are based elsewhere — GDPR applies. Key requirements:

• Cookie consent before setting non-essential cookies (a proper banner, not just "we use cookies")
• Legal basis for each processing activity
• Ability to handle Subject Access Requests (SARs) within 30 days
• Data Processing Agreements with all third-party service providers
• Right to erasure — you must be able to delete customer data on request

CCPA Requirements for Shopify Stores

If you have customers in California and your business meets the thresholds ($25M revenue, or data on 100K+ consumers, or 50%+ revenue from selling data), CCPA/CPRA applies:

• "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" link in your footer
• Disclosure of data categories sold or shared for advertising
• 12-month look-back of data collection practices
• Honour opt-out requests within 15 business days

Where to Put Your Privacy Policy on Shopify

1. Footer link — Add a "Privacy Policy" link to your store footer (this is the standard location)
2. Checkout page — Shopify lets you add a link to your privacy policy on the checkout page
3. Account registration — Link to your privacy policy wherever customers create accounts
4. Email signup forms — Include a privacy notice near newsletter signup forms

The Easy Way: Generate Your Shopify Privacy Policy

Writing a compliant privacy policy for a Shopify store from scratch is time-consuming and error-prone. You need to account for Shopify's data practices, all your third-party apps, multiple jurisdictions, and changing laws.

LegalForge generates a complete, compliant privacy policy tailored to eCommerce businesses in 60 seconds. Just answer a few questions about your store, and the AI creates a policy that covers GDPR, CCPA, Shopify-specific data flows, and cookie disclosures.