AI tool privacy · Shopify
Shopify Sidekick and your company’s data
By David Michaelson, MS Last checked October 23, 2026
The short answer
Shopify says store data is never used to train foundation models or shared with other merchants, and Sidekick can see only what the logged-in staff member can see.
Safer setup: Give each staff account only the store permissions it needs, because Sidekick works within them, and turn off memory for conversations about sensitive orders or customers.
The five answers
Each answer comes from Shopify’s own policy or help pages, with the link and the date we read it. Setting names are quoted exactly as Shopify writes them.
| Question | Shopify stores |
|---|---|
| Trains on your data by default? | No, for foundation models. Shopify says store data is never used to train foundation models or shared with other merchants. The pages we read do not say whether Shopify uses it for its own other models. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: shopify.com |
| How long your data is kept | Sidekick keeps conversations and saved preferences in its memory until you delete them, and can refer to your recent admin activity for about 12 hours. Shopify’s privacy policy says it keeps personal data only as long as needed for the purposes it was collected. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: help.shopify.com |
| Who can see it | Only what the logged-in staff member can already see. Shopify says Sidekick respects that person’s permissions and asks before making changes. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: shopify.com |
| Where data is stored | In Canada, the United States, and other regions. Shopify is a Canadian company and says it may send personal data outside your country, including to the United States. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: shopify.com |
| How to delete | Delete a conversation from Sidekick conversations. This removes it from your chat history and from Sidekick’s memory; saved preferences stay until you ask Sidekick to forget them. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: help.shopify.com |
Safer setup, step by step
- Set each staff account’s permissions to what the job needs. Sidekick respects the same permissions as the logged-in user. Source: shopify.com for this step
- For a sensitive conversation, turn off memory so Sidekick does not save new details from it. Source: help.shopify.com for this step
- To remove a conversation, open Sidekick conversations, click the icon next to it, and click Delete. Source: help.shopify.com for this step
What to write in your policy
Staff use Sidekick only from their own Shopify staff accounts, with the permissions their job needs. Changes Sidekick proposes are reviewed before they go live.
Building your own approved tools list? The SafeStart Handbook includes one, with company accounts and safer privacy settings.