Target · Target Privacy Policy · View original document ↗

Inferences and Sensitive Personal Information Collection

Medium severity High confidence Explicitdocumentlanguage Unique · 0 of 343 platforms
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Document Record

What it is

The policy states that Target collects and retains inferences derived from personal information to build consumer profiles reflecting preferences, psychological trends, predispositions, behaviors, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes.

This analysis describes what Target'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)

Inferences drawn to create consumer profiles are a specifically enumerated category under CCPA/CPRA and analogous state statutes, subject to access rights, deletion rights, and in some contexts correction rights; the breadth of the enumerated inference categories (including psychological trends and aptitudes) extends beyond standard purchase-preference profiling.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

This provision establishes that Target builds consumer profiles from inferred data that may encompass psychological trends, predispositions, and aptitudes in addition to purchase and browsing preferences; consumers in covered states have the right to access, correct, and request deletion of these inferred profiles.

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.
  • Export Your Data
    Submit an access request through Target's privacy portal at privacyportal.target.com to receive a copy of the personal information Target holds about you, including any inferred profile data.

How other platforms handle this

Ledger Medium

At Ledger, earning and maintaining our users' trust is a top priority. That's why we are deeply committed not only to protecting your privacy and securing your personal data, but also to being fully transparent about how we handle it.

Strava Medium

We may display advertisements on our Services and those advertisements may be targeted to your interests based on your personal information. We may share your personal information with advertising partners for interest-based advertising purposes. You may opt out of interest-based advertising by visi...

eBay Medium

We collect your personal data when you use our Services, create a new eBay account, provide us with information via a web form, add or update information in your eBay account, participate in online community discussions or otherwise interact with us.

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
Inferences drawn from personal information to create a profile about you reflecting your preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes.

— Excerpt from Target's Target Privacy Policy

ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance intelligence)

1. REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: CCPA/CPRA expressly includes inferences drawn from personal information to create a profile as a category of personal information subject to consumer rights. Colorado CPA, Connecticut CTDPA, and Virginia VCDPA similarly include inferences in their definitions of personal information. The FTC has identified the use of consumer profiling for sensitive inferences (including psychological profiling) as a practice warranting heightened scrutiny. 2. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The policy's inclusion of psychological trends, predispositions, and aptitudes as inference categories extends beyond standard retail preference profiling. Under CPRA, consumers have the right to access and delete these inferences. The use of such inferences in advertising targeting may require evaluation under CPRA's profiling and automated decision-making provisions, which are subject to ongoing regulatory development. 3. JURISDICTION FLAGS: California creates the highest exposure given CPRA's explicit inclusion of inferences and the CPPA's ongoing rulemaking on automated decision-making and profiling. Colorado's CPA includes opt-out rights for profiling used to make decisions with legal or similarly significant effects. European residents interacting with Target's digital properties may trigger GDPR profiling and automated decision-making provisions. 4. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: If inferences are generated by third-party analytics vendors using consumer data, those vendors must be structured as service providers with data use restrictions. Contracts should prohibit vendors from using inference data for their own profiling or advertising purposes. 5. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should evaluate whether: consumers can access and receive copies of inferred profiles upon request; deletion of inferences is technically implemented across all systems when deletion requests are received; the categories of inferences listed in the policy reflect actual data practices; and the use of psychological and aptitude inferences in advertising targeting is reviewed under evolving CPPA automated decision-making rulemaking.

Full compliance analysis

Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has authority over consumer profiling practices and deceptive representations about the scope of inference-based profiling under Section 5 of the FTC Act.
    File a complaint →
  • State AG
    State attorneys general in California and other states with active privacy statutes have enforcement authority over consumer profile inference rights and profiling disclosure obligations.
    File a complaint →

Applicable regulations

CCPA/CPRA
California, USA
Connecticut Data Privacy Act Amendments
US-CT
CAN-SPAM
United States Federal
FTC Act Section 5
United States Federal
Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act
US-IN
Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act
US-KY
TCPA
United States Federal
Universal Opt-Out Mechanism Expansion 2026
US

Provision details

Document information
Document
Target Privacy Policy
Entity
Target
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
May 21, 2026
Last verified
May 21, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-012849
Document ID
CA-D-00260
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
d7515e630a65aad58c9148a9c23310bdb5ac55c05508e24d7e9bb18074d57946
Analysis generated
May 21, 2026 02:11 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Target
Document: Target Privacy Policy
Record ID: CA-P-012849
Captured: 2026-05-21 02:11:48 UTC
SHA-256: d7515e630a65aad5…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/target/target-privacy-policy/inferences-and-sensitive-personal-information-collection/
Accessed: May 25, 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 Target's Inferences and Sensitive Personal Information Collection clause do?

Inferences drawn to create consumer profiles are a specifically enumerated category under CCPA/CPRA and analogous state statutes, subject to access rights, deletion rights, and in some contexts correction rights; the breadth of the enumerated inference categories (including psychological trends and aptitudes) extends beyond standard purchase-preference profiling.

How does this clause affect you?

This provision establishes that Target builds consumer profiles from inferred data that may encompass psychological trends, predispositions, and aptitudes in addition to purchase and browsing preferences; consumers in covered states have the right to access, correct, and request deletion of these inferred profiles.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Target?

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