Shopify’s Terms of Service Are Changing on July 25, 2025 — What It Means for Your Store
Running an online business is no small feat. From attracting new customers to running daily operations and staying on top of compliance, merchants manage a wide range of responsibilities every single day. That’s why Shopify continues to evolve—building smarter tools and services designed to make your job easier and your store more successful.
In line with this mission, Shopify is updating its Terms of Service and Data Processing Addendum, effective July 25, 2025. While no immediate action is required on your part, it's important to understand what’s changing and how it benefits you.
What’s Changing?
Shopify is making updates to clarify how customer data is used across its suite of tools. These updates aim to enhance your store’s performance, particularly in areas like marketing, audience targeting, and personalized experiences.
The changes primarily affect the following apps:
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Shop Channel
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Shopify Email
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Shopify Audiences
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Search & Discovery
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Shopify Collabs
If you're using any of these tools, you're already positioned to benefit from the improvements.
Why This Matters for Merchants
Data-driven insights are the backbone of modern eCommerce. With millions of merchants on the platform, Shopify has a unique ability to identify trends and patterns that help individual stores perform better.
These updates allow Shopify to:
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Improve customer targeting through better segmentation and audience creation
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Deliver more relevant shopping experiences for your customers
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Optimize ad spend by using smart algorithms to match products with the right audiences
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Enhance email and search tools for more meaningful engagement
What About Data Privacy?
This is where Shopify is making things clear:
Your data remains your own.
Shopify keeps your store data private and does not share it with other merchants. The updated terms are focused on using customer behavior data to improve features and tools—similar to how major tech platforms operate.
What’s not changing:
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Shopify's commitment to protecting your confidential business information
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Your control over how data is used via the Customer Privacy settings
You can review or update your privacy preferences anytime by navigating to:
Shopify Admin > Settings > Customer Privacy
Compliance Still Matters
Even though Shopify is strengthening its tools, it’s still your responsibility to ensure you're complying with privacy laws and regulations in your country or region—such as GDPR in the EU, CCPA in California, and others.
Luckily, Shopify provides a range of privacy and consent tools to help you meet these requirements.
What Should You Do?
If you’re already using one or more of the mentioned tools, you don’t need to take any immediate action. However, here’s what we recommend:
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Review the updated Terms of Service (available on Shopify’s legal page)
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Check your Customer Privacy settings to ensure they align with your business needs
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Explore privacy tools within Shopify to stay compliant with local laws
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Reach out to Shopify support or your development/marketing partner if you have any questions
Final Thoughts
This update is part of Shopify’s continued investment in making its platform smarter, safer, and more effective for merchants like you. By enhancing how data is used—without compromising your privacy—Shopify is helping you focus less on technical complexity and more on growing your business.
If you need assistance adjusting your store settings or understanding what these updates mean for your operations, feel free to get in touch.
Have questions about the update?
We’d be happy to help you review your setup and make the most of the changes.
Contact us today for personalised support.