Configuring customer privacy settings

You can configure and manage customer privacy settings within your Shopify admin to help comply with privacy and data protection laws. By customizing your privacy policy, adding a cookie banner, and creating a data sales opt-out page, you can enhance transparency and give your customers more control over their data.

It's important to review and verify the default content in the Customer privacy section of the Shopify admin to ensure its applicability to your business and any third parties that you might have installed on your store. For specific questions regarding your business and privacy obligations, it's recommended to consult with external legal counsel.

The Customer privacy section primarily 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 their store.

Add a Privacy Policy

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

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer privacy.
2. Click Privacy policy.
3. Create your privacy policy by either writing it yourself, or clicking Create from template to use a pre-designed template as a foundation for customization.
4. Click Save.

Learn more about adding store policies.

Add a cookie banner

A cookie banner is a notification displayed on a website that informs visitors about the use of cookies and asks for their consent for data collection and tracking activities.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer privacy.
2. Click Cookie banner.
3. In the Region visibility section, click Activate cookie banner.
4. Select the regions where you want the cookie banner to display, and then click Activate.
5. In the Appearance section, click Customize.
6. Make any required changes to the colors, cookie banner, or cookie preferences, and then click Save.
7. In the Position section, choose how you want the cookie banner to be positioned in your online store.
8. Optional: Click View to preview how the cookie banner displays in your online 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.

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, select the regions where you want the cookie banner to display and then click Activate.
5. From the Privacy category in the Shopify App Store, install your preferred app to collect visitor cookie consent.

By turning off the default Customer privacy cookie banner while keeping the selected regions activated, you can ensure that Shopify cookies and trackers aren't placed until the appropriate consent is obtained from visitors.

Impact of cookie-based customer data collection and analytics

When a cookie banner is active in specific regions, data is collected from visitors from those regions only after obtaining consent. Consequently, there might be a reduction in the amount of data available for analytics, marketing, and personalization purposes. This can be observed through decreased session counts and other metrics that rely on session data, including conversion rates.

By activating a cookie banner for visitors from regions where consent for data collection and tracking activities is required, analytics data is collected only after the visitor has given consent for analytics purposes. Consequently, you might observe a decrease in session counts and potential changes in other metrics that rely on session data, such as conversion rates.

To learn more about impact of cookie-based customer data collection and analytics, refer to the documentation on analytics discrepencies and Shopify's cookie policy.

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.

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 Visibility section, click Activate page.
4. Select the regions where customers can submit opt outs and then click Activate in regions.
5. In the Customize page section, click Edit.
6. Make any required changes to the default template, and then click Save.
7. In the Navigation section, choose where you want the opt-out page link accessible from.
8. Optional: Click View to preview how the cookie banner displays in your online store.