Data privacy and legal compliance for email marketing campaigns

Data privacy and legal compliance are both important issues to consider and inform yourself about when you use email marketing to grow your business.

Privacy and data protection

Shopify Email is designed with privacy in mind and focuses solely on emailing subscribers without storing customer-specific data. You are responsible for ensuring that your email opt-in collection methods comply with regional laws and regulations.

To maintain compliance with privacy regulations such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), consider the following resources:

• Review Shopify's privacy and data protection guidelines for detailed information on managing customer data and consent
• Learn how to comply with GDPR using Shopify
• If you're developing apps, then consult the privacy requirements for Shopify apps

What are the spam laws I should be aware of?

The rules, regulations, and laws surrounding spam, such as unsolicited emails sent in bulk, vary depending on your location. Make sure you are familiar with the laws in your region, state, and country before you begin an email marketing campaign.

Do I need to include a mailing address in my emails?

Depending on where you're located, you might need to include a physical postal address in your promotional emails. The CAN-SPAM Act in the United States and the CASL legislation/PIPEDA in Canada are examples of these laws. The rules, regulations, and laws surrounding email marketing and spam, such as unsolicited emails sent in bulk, vary depending on your location. Make sure you're familiar with the laws in your region, state, and country before you begin an email marketing campaign.

By default, your store address is included in the footer of your emails. If you don't feel comfortable sharing your store address in your emails, then you can rent a PO box from your local post office or UPS store to use as your mailing address. To change the mailing address in your emails, go to Settings > General in your Shopify admin and enter your post office box address as your store's address.

Note

Your store address is the address that's shown on your invoices from Shopify. Using a post office box as an address might affect which apps can be used in your store. Make sure that you're comfortable with using a post office box for these purposes before you update your store address.