Shopify’s primary contracting entities and transfers from the merchant to Shopify

Discover Shopify's primary contracting entities for merchants, data transfers, the Data Processing Addendum, and resources about consumer terms of service and policies.

Shopify's primary contracting entities

Unless otherwise provided for you in your terms of service with Shopify, the following are Shopify’s primary contracting entities with its merchants:

  • Shopify Inc.: A Canadian-registered entity contracting with merchants in the United States or Canada.
  • Shopify International Limited: An Irish-registered entity contracting with merchants in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and Latin America (LATAM).
  • Shopify Commerce Singapore Pte. Ltd.: A Singapore-registered entity contracting with merchants in Asia-Pacific (APAC).

Resources about contracting parties

You can find further information about your Shopify contracting entity in the following resources:

Transfers of personal data from the merchant to Shopify

When you start using Shopify, we process the personal data provided to us in the following ways:

  • as a controller or business, with respect to your personal data
  • as a processor or service provider, with respect to your customers' personal data

Shopify's Data Processing Addendum

Shopify’s Data Processing Addendum governs transfers of your customers’ personal data to Shopify, specifically where Shopify acts as a processor. The Data Processing Addendum is incorporated into our Terms of Service with you and our Privacy Policy. It provides legal protections to keep the processing of your customers’ personal data safe and secure, in satisfaction of applicable data protection requirements, including in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom (UK), Singapore, Canada, and certain states in the United States (US).

Shopify’s Consumer Services

Separately, Shopify also provides a range of customer facing services (Shopify Consumer Services), which are governed by their own terms. When a customer signs up for Shopify Consumer Services, such as Shop or Shop Pay, then Shopify is directly engaged by the customer and Shopify acts as the data controller or business.

Resources about Shopify's consumer terms of service

You can find further information about Shopify’s Consumer Services in the following resources:

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