Provision record
Shein · Shein Terms and Conditions · View original document ↗

Lookalike Audience Hashing for Advertising

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Document Record

What it is

The policy discloses that SHEIN hashes and uploads customer email addresses to third-party platforms to generate lookalike advertising audiences, with the uploaded list deleted after comparison.

This analysis describes what Shein's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

This provision authorizes the transmission of hashed customer email addresses to third-party advertising platforms for lookalike audience generation, which may engage state privacy law requirements for disclosure of data sharing for advertising purposes and potentially COPPA considerations if any hashed addresses belong to minors.

Recent Activity

This document changed recently

Medium Apr 29, 2026

Previously, Shein asked users to explicitly agree or disagree with account persistence for future logins. The updated terms remove this choice entirely. Instead of a consent decision, users now see a promotional discount offer in that location. This means users lose direct control over whether Shein maintains their login session across device visits, which affects convenience and privacy preferences around authentication persistence.

View change record →

Clause Stability Stable

0
Changes
4
Months Monitored
Jul 9, 2026
First Seen
Jul 9, 2026
Last Seen

Change history

added Jul 23, 2026

New disclosure of email-based lookalike audience creation using hashed data shared with third-party advertising platforms, enabling targeted advertising based on user similarity.

View full change record →

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Under this provision, customer email addresses are hashed and transmitted to third-party advertising platforms such as Meta to generate audiences of users with similar characteristics. The agreement states that the uploaded list is deleted after the lookalike audience is generated and that SHEIN does not receive the identities of matched individuals unless they interact with an advertisement.

What you can do

⚠️ These actions may provide transparency or partial mitigation but may not fully address the underlying issue. Effectiveness varies by jurisdiction and individual circumstances.
  • Opt Out of Arbitration
    Click the 'Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information' or 'Manage Cookies' link at the bottom of the SHEIN website to opt out of data sharing for advertising purposes, which may include the lookalike audience hashing process.

Cross-platform context

See how other platforms handle Lookalike Audience Hashing for Advertising and similar clauses.

Compare across platforms →
▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
We may also show ads to audiences that share similar characteristics as you. To do so, a list of email addresses is irreversibly encrypted through hashing and uploaded or transmitted from our site, and the hashed data is compared against the third party's own users, generating a 'lookalike audience' of matching addresses and deleting the uploaded list. We do not have access to the identity of any person in the 'lookalike' audience unless they choose to click on one of our advertisements.

Excerpt from Shein's Terms and Conditions

ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (regulatory & governance intelligence)

1.

Insight

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Enforcement risk, jurisdiction flags, contract triggers, and due diligence action items.

Applicable agencies

  • Federal Trade Commission (ftc)
    Oversees unfair or deceptive business practices and can investigate companies that mislead consumers about data collection, sharing, or use.
    Who can file: Anyone affected by the company's practices (US or international)
    What you need: Your account details, a timeline of relevant events, and a description of the specific issue
    What to expect: Complaints inform FTC enforcement priorities and investigations but do not result in individual resolution or compensation
    File a complaint →

Provision details

Document information
Document
Shein Terms and Conditions
Entity
Shein
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
July 9, 2026
Last verified
July 9, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-013990
Document ID
CA-D-00261
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
ff7d25b646312ea7b5398e6e8e4a8277e6e1be33a20bc33753eca845e5100edb
Analysis generated
July 9, 2026 04:29 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Shein
Document: Shein Terms and Conditions
Record ID: CA-P-013990
Captured: 2026-07-09 04:29:08 UTC
SHA-256: ff7d25b646312ea7…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/shein/shein-terms-and-conditions/provision/CA-P-013990/lookalike-audience-hashing-for-advertising/
Accessed: Sept. 8, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Shein's Lookalike Audience Hashing for Advertising clause do?

This provision authorizes the transmission of hashed customer email addresses to third-party advertising platforms for lookalike audience generation, which may engage state privacy law requirements for disclosure of data sharing for advertising purposes and potentially COPPA considerations if any hashed addresses belong to minors.

How does this clause affect you?

Under this provision, customer email addresses are hashed and transmitted to third-party advertising platforms such as Meta to generate audiences of users with similar characteristics. The agreement states that the uploaded list is deleted after the lookalike audience is generated and that SHEIN does not receive the identities of matched individuals unless they interact with an advertisement.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Shein?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Shein.