64 Total
20 High severity
41 Medium severity
3 Low severity

Key Facts

When will Shopify notify you in advance before sharing your Personal Data?
Shopify will notify you in advance before sharing your Personal Data when legally required to do so, unless Shopify is legally forbidden from providing that notice.
Why does Shopify receive information from connected third-party email inboxes?
Shopify receives information from connected third-party email inboxes in order to identify shopping-related emails and display order information within the Shop app.
What does Shopify collect from email inboxes connected to a Shop account?
Shopify collects the contents of email messages from email inboxes connected to a Shop account, as well as information from emails transferred to the app for inclusion in order history.
May Shopify transfer your Personal Data outside of your state, province, or country?
Shopify may transfer your Personal Data outside of your state, province, or country, including to the United States, where it may be subject to the laws of the destination country.
Does Shopify retain store information for two years after a merchant stops paying subscription fees?
Shopify retains store information for two years after a merchant closes their store, stops paying subscription fees, or has their account terminated before beginning the deletion process.
Will Shopify charge you more if you exercise any of the stated privacy rights?
Shopify will not charge you more or provide a different level of service if you exercise any of the stated privacy rights.
Does Shopify "sell" Personal Data as that term is defined under US Privacy Laws?
Shopify does not "sell" Personal Data as that term is defined under US Privacy Laws.
When will Shopify refuse to share your Personal Data with a third party?
Shopify will refuse to share your Personal Data with a third party unless you give permission or Shopify is legally required to do so.
When does Shopify use or disclose sensitive Personal Data?
Shopify uses or discloses sensitive Personal Data only with your specific consent when required, or as otherwise permitted by law.
How does Shopify ensure its machine learning processes are used?
Shopify ensures that its machine learning processes either involve a human in the process or are used in ways that do not produce legal or similarly significant effects.
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Summary

This policy explains how Shopify handles your personal information, including the fact that connecting a third-party email inbox (like Gmail) lets Shopify read and collect the actual contents of your emails to show you order details in the Shop app. If you are a merchant and close your store, Shopify holds onto your store data for two full years before it begins deleting it. You can request access to, correction, or deletion of your personal data, and Shopify will not charge you more or treat you differently for making those requests.

Analysis

This document establishes the conditions under which Shopify collects, uses, retains, shares, and protects Personal Data across its services, including the Shop app. Shopify commits to collecting email content from connected third-party inboxes to surface order information, retaining merchant store data for two years following closure or termination before initiating deletion, and retaining all Personal Data only as long as necessary for its collected purpose. Third-party sharing is limited to user permission or legal compulsion, cross-border transfers are disclosed as possible, sensitive Personal Data requires specific consent or a lawful basis, and Shopify commits that it does not 'sell' Personal Data as defined under US Privacy Laws. Users are afforded stated privacy rights without financial penalty or service degradation for exercising them, and machine learning processes either involve human oversight or are limited to non-legally-significant effects.

What this means for you

Connecting a third-party email inbox to the Shop app means Shopify collects the actual content of those emails, not just metadata, to identify shopping-related messages and display order history. Your Personal Data will not be shared with third parties unless you give permission or Shopify is legally required to do so, and Shopify will notify you in advance of any legally compelled disclosure unless it is legally forbidden from doing so. You have the right to request access to, correction, amendment, deletion, portability, restriction of, or objection to certain uses of your Personal Data, and exercising any of those rights will not result in additional charges or a reduced level of service from Shopify.

Institutional Analysis
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Which mapped governance frameworks each document engages, tied to the specific provisions that engage them.

1 important change detected

3 versions captured · Last updated: July 2026

July 10, 2026

medium
What changed Shopify updated its privacy policy on July 10, 2026 to revise how it describes cross-border data transfers for users in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland. The prior policy stated that Personal Data sent to Canada was protected under Canadian law, which the European Commission had found adequate. The updated policy replaces this with a framework based on Shopify's Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs) for transfers between Shopify entities, and Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for transfers to third-party subprocessors. The practical effect is that data protection assurances now rest on different legal instruments (BCRs and SCCs) rather than adequacy decisions.
Why this matters The updated policy changes the legal mechanism used to protect personal data when it crosses borders, but does not change where data is transferred or fundamentally alter protection levels. For EEA and Swiss users, data transfers between Shopify entities now rely on Shopify's Binding Corporate Rules (which have been approved by European data protection authorities), rather than adequacy decisions. For UK users, transfers use Standard Contractual Clauses and may rely on the adequacy decision for Canada. For transfers to third-party subprocessors, contractual commitments in the form of Standard Contractual Clauses now replace prior language referencing comparable protections. The policy states these mechanisms reflect Shopify's commitment to adequate protection, but the shift in legal instruments may have implications for how disputes or compliance issues would be evaluated under GDPR or UK data protection law.
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Featured, High severity
Featured, Medium severity

Complete Provision Index

Every distinct legal provision identified in this document. Featured provisions appear above with analysis.

64 provisions
12 featured
11 clause types
20 high severity
Liability Limitation 1 1 high
AI / Automated Decision-Making 1
Policy Changes 1
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Archival ProvenanceSource & Archival Record
Last Captured July 10, 2026 00:26 UTC
Capture Method Automated scheduled archival capture
Document ID CA-D-000122
Version ID CA-V-004662
SHA-256 470ba6ffdcc217829134ec93411823fb9a35e117b5f0e95d853d0bef4ed6a51e
✓ Snapshot stored ✓ Text extracted ✓ Change verified ✓ Hash verified

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