Configuring customer privacy settings

As a Shopify merchant, ensuring the privacy of your customers is crucial. In many regions, customers highly value their privacy and seek out specific features, such as cookie banners, as indicators of trust before making purchases or browsing a store. You can automate and manage customer privacy settings within your Shopify admin to help comply with privacy and data protection laws. By adding an automated privacy policy, cookie banner, and data sales opt-out page, you can enhance transparency and give your customers more control over their data.

Understanding customer privacy settings

Before going into specific settings, it's important to review and verify the default content and settings in the Customer Privacy section of your Shopify admin. Ensure these settings accurately reflect your business operations and any third-party services integrated with your store.

Automated privacy settings

Automated privacy settings can help you streamline your store's compliance with privacy laws by automatically adjusting to changes in your store settings and legal requirements. This feature supports all 32 languages supported in checkout and themes, with all updates logged in your Store activity log for transparency. You can export all versions.

When you set up a new store, automated privacy settings are activated by default. For existing stores, you can activate these automated privacy settings to keep your policies up to date with Shopify's recommended practices.

To customize your privacy settings manually, the Use automated settings button must be deactivated.

Set up automated privacy settings

Caution

Automated privacy settings aren't a substitute for legal advice. You're responsible for ensuring their accuracy and compliance with applicable laws. Regularly review and update your settings and content to reflect your business practices. Significant changes may require notifying your customers. Consult a lawyer if necessary.

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer privacy.
2. Select Privacy Policy, Cookie Banner, or Data Sales Opt-Out Page.
3. Use the toggle button to activate or deactivate automated privacy settings.
4. To manually edit your policy or settings, deactivate automated settings and then click Save.

Create and manage your privacy policy

A privacy policy is a legal document that details how your business collects, uses, stores, and protects the personal information of its customers or website visitors.

When you set up a new store, automated privacy settings are activated by default. However, you can deactivate Use automated policy to manually draft your privacy policy.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer privacy.
2. Click Privacy policy.
3. Either draft your privacy policy manually, or click Use automated policy to implement Shopify's recommended policy text, which automatically updates as your settings change.
4. Click Save.

Learn more about adding store policies.

Export your privacy policy history

Changes to your privacy policy are archived and can be accessed in all configured languages.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Policies.
2. In the Written policies section, click … > Get past privacy policies.
3. In the Export privacy policy history dialog, select your export preference and then click Export privacy policies.

Customizing your privacy settings with Liquid variables

Liquid variables allow for dynamic customization of your privacy policy based on specific store settings.

Store information and settings

Variable	Description
{{address}}	Store address
{{email}}	Store email
{{shop_domain}}	Store domain
{{shop_name}}	Store name
{{last_updated}}	Date the privacy policy was last updated
{% if selling_to_united_states %} ... {% endif %}	Selling to the United States (US) as an active market
{% if selling_to_europe %} ... {% endif %}	Selling to the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom (UK), or Switzerland as an active market
{% if using_additional_customer_data %} ... {% endif %}	An app in the Customer Accounts category is installed
{% if shop_app_installed %} ... {% endif %}	Shop app is installed
{% if shop_pay_enabled %} ... {% endif %}	Shop Pay is activated
{% if data_sale_opt_out_enabled %} ... {% endif %}	Shopify Data Sale Opt-Out page is activated
{% if shopify_audiences_app_installed %} ... {% endif %}	Shopify Audiences app is installed
{% if cookie_banner_enabled %} ... {% endif %}	Cookie consent is required in any region
{% if using_user_generated_content %} ... {% endif %}	An app in the User Generated Content category is installed

Add a cookie banner

A cookie banner is a notification that displays on a website to inform visitors about the use of cookies and asks for their consent for some data collection and tracking activities. Before you can use a cookie consent banner, you must publish a privacy policy.

The Shopify cookie banner governs Shopify-specific trackers, including cookies, Shopify Pixels, and Shopify Audiences. It's particularly suitable if you haven't manually installed third-party trackers or integrated them through apps on your store.

When you set up a new store, automated privacy settings are activated by default. However, you can deactivate Use automated settings to manually draft your cookie banner.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer privacy.
2. Click Cookie banner.
3. In the Regions and content section, choose between automated settings or manual customization:
   • To use automated settings, make sure that the Use automated settings button is activated. If it's not, then activate it using the toggle. This option ensures that your settings remain aligned with Shopify's latest recommendations for regions and content.
   • For manual region customization, click Edit in the Regions section, select the regions where the cookie banner should display, click Done, and then click Save.
   • For content customization, click Edit in the Content section, make your modifications, click Done, and then click Save..
4. Adjust the appearance of your cookie banner, including colors and preferences, to align with your store’s branding, and then click Save.
5. In the Position section, choose your banner positions, and then click Save.
6. Optional: Click View in the Position section to preview the cookie banner on your store.

Configure a cookie banner using a third-party cookie banner app

You can configure a cookie banner with a third-party cookie banner app or consent management platform. For questions on your store's cookie banner configuration, reach out to the app developer.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer privacy.
2. Click Cookie banner.
3. Click More actions > Use Custom Cookie Banner.
4. In the Region visibility section, ensure alignment with your third-party app's settings and then click Activate. In these regions, Shopify requires consent for some data collection and tracking activities.
5. Explore the Cookie Consent Category in the Shopify App Store to find and install an app.

Add a data sales opt-out page

A data sales opt-out page is a dedicated page in your online store that allows visitors to opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal data with third parties, providing them with control over the use and distribution of their information. When the Global Privacy Control (GPC) header is present, it activates opting out of data sale or sharing. Before you can use a data sales opt-out page, you must publish a privacy policy.

When you set up a new store, automated privacy settings are activated by default. However, you can deactivate Use automated settings to manually draft your data sales opt-out page.

Required staff permissions

To add a data sales opt out page, you need the following staff permissions:

• Store settings: Manage settings
• Online store: Blog posts and pages
• Online store: Navigation

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer privacy.
2. Click Data sales opt-out page.
3. In the Regions and content section, choose between automated settings or manual customization:
   • To use automated settings, make sure that the Use automated settings button is activated. If it's not, then activate it using the toggle. This option ensures that your settings remain aligned with Shopify's latest recommendations for regions and content.
   • For manual region customization, click Edit in the Regions section, select the regions where the data sales opt-out page should display, and then click Done.
   • For content customization, click Edit in the Content section, make your modifications, and then click Save.
4. In the Navigation section, choose your data sales opt-out page position from your store menu, and then click Save.

Understanding the impact of privacy setting

Implementing cookie banners and data sales opt-out features can affect data collection:

• In configured cookie banner regions: Non-essential data is collected only after obtaining consent, which may reduce data available for analytics, marketing, and personalization. For example, this can be observed through decreased session counts and other metrics that rely on session data, including conversion rates. This is intended for use in regions that require opt-in consent for data collection, such as in the EEA and the UK.
• Outside of configured cookie banner regions: Data is collected without consent. This is intended for use in regions that don't require opt-in consent for data collection, such as in the US.
• Default settings: By default, automated privacy settings, including cookie banner regions, are activated if required by the currently active markets.

To learn more about impact of cookie-based customer data collection and analytics, refer to the documentation on analytics discrepancies and Shopify's cookie policy. Pixels operate based on the consent obtained in these regions.

Localizing privacy features

By localizing privacy features such as the cookie banner, data sales opt-out page, and privacy policy page, your customers can access and engage with these pages in their preferred language. You can configure, preview, and set default content for these pages in the languages of your target markets.

Localize privacy features from the Customer privacy section

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer privacy.
2. In the Privacy settings section, complete one of the following steps:
   • Click Cookie banner.
   • Click Data sales opt-out page.
3. Click More actions > Localize to open the Translate & Adapt app. Alternatively, you can select another compatible third-party translation app.

Localize privacy features from the Policies section

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Policies.
2. Click Localize to open the Translate & Adapt app. Alternatively, you can select another compatible third-party translation app.

Use the Translate and Adapt app to localize privacy features

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Translate & Adapt app.
2. In the Online store section, complete one of the following steps:
   • Click Cookie banner.
   • Click Policies.
   • Click Pages > Opt-out page title.
3. Use the Translate & Adapt app to manually or automatically translate content for these privacy features.

Managing languages

When you add a new language, professional translations are automatically provided for your privacy policy, cookie banner, and data sales opt-out page for themes built by Shopify. Learn more about managing languages and the translations available for your privacy policy, cookie banner, and data sales opt-out page. If a language isn't available, then a warning message displays.