Every Shopify store requires a privacy policy, refund policy, terms of service and shipping policy before it can accept payments from customers. Shopify makes it easy to generate these legal policies by creating a default template in the admin interface, which can be generated in a matter of seconds. This default template is a good starting point but the legal policies required for an online store in 2026 are not just going to get generated in a matter of seconds.
Shopify’s “out of the box” functionality was written prior to GDPR, CCPA, California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, and the Digital Services Act. This functionality does not provide all of the necessary transparency that data processors and data brokers offer. And with the ever-evolving landscape of data processing, and the increased use of AI “crawlers” to process data on the web, the lack of additional settings to further disclose data processing is palpable and leaves processors and brokers woefully short of the required, written disclosures that EU and California law mandates.
Short overview of guide covering the necessary details in each policy, what Shopify automatically includes, the holes in their provisions, and using a free policy generator on this site to fill in the gaps.
In this post
- The four required policies
- Privacy policy
- Refund policy
- Terms of service
- Shipping policy
- GDPR and CCPA additions
- What Shopify’s default misses
- FAQ
The four required policies
While Shopify doesn’t require you to publish the policies on your store when you open the shop, the payment providers that Shopify offers (Shopify Payments and Stripe) require these policies to be published in order to activate the payment providers, and all online stores that sell will require these policies practically from the first sale, whether or not they’ve been published on the site when the store was opened.
| Policy | Purpose | Required by |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy | How you collect and use data | GDPR, CCPA, Shopify Payments |
| Refund | Return and refund terms | Shopify Payments, consumer law |
| Terms of Service | Contract between you and buyer | Good practice, some jurisdictions |
| Shipping | Delivery times, zones, costs | Consumer transparency laws |
Privacy policy
The privacy policy is one of the most viewed files on your store, which is part of the reason that it needs to be clear and concise. Any vagueness in, or failure to include essential provisions in, a downloaded Shopify privacy policy template is going to leave you open to negative feedback and liability from customers. That’s why you need a reliable, up-to-date Shopify privacy policy template.
- What personal data you collect (names, emails, shipping addresses, payment tokens, browsing behavior)
- Why you collect it (order fulfillment, marketing, analytics, fraud prevention)
- Who you share it with (Shopify, payment processor, shipping carriers, email platform, analytics tools)
- How long you retain it
- GDPR data rights (access, correction, deletion, portability, objection)
- CCPA disclosures (categories of data sold or shared, opt-out link)
- Cookies and tracking technologies
- Contact for data protection requests
Link to a service that will generate a full sample policy based on questions about the store. The service should mention locations and where products are shipped to, and reference email and analytics tools such as MailChimp and Shopkeeper Analytics. The policy generator should specifically note that the generated policy will include information about GDPR and CCPA compliance when applicable.
Refund policy
mon>|Refund Policy – Clearly state refund terms to avoid confusion and make refunds as painless as possible. A vague refund policy can result in unknown future chargebacks. Chargebacks, no matter the reason, can flag your Stripe or Shopify Payments account for manual review. Nobody wants that.
Look for a refund policy that clearly outlines all of the return conditions. These should include the number of days you have to return the item (it’s generally 30 days) as well as the condition in which you must receive the item back (unused with tags attached). Consider whether or not you will be responsible for shipping the item back to the retailer and what form the refund will take (the full amount you paid for the item to be credited back to your original payment method, or a store credit instead). Also, review the exchange policy and know what items are exceptions to the refund rule (final sale items, custom ordered items, intimate apparel items).
Terms of service
Terms of service is the contract. The Terms of Service are part of the overall relationship between your store and the buyer, and specify a number of details, such as who may purchase from you, the terms and conditions under which a purchase order is accepted, limitations of liability, choice of law and forum. The vast majority of online purchasers do not read the Terms of Service agreement before they purchase from your store. It doesn’t matter, because these terms are there to protect you in case something goes wrong.
Shipping policy
Ten states in the US and most of the EU have passed “shipping transparency” legislation, forcing online retailers to reveal to customers the delivery time and cost of shipping before they complete their purchases. Most of these items are listed within your website’s shipping policy, which should explain all of the following to your customers: the destinations where you deliver, the time needed to process a package, your available choices for shipping carriers, the time frame within which a package will arrive at its destination, how to obtain a tracking number for a package, and what you will do if a package is ever lost during shipping.
GDPR and CCPA additions
GDPR (European Union) and CCPA / CPRA (California) laws require different notifications that are not fully included in the default Shopify settings. Some of the required elements need to be manually added.
- Legal basis for processing under GDPR Article 6 (contract, consent, legitimate interest)
- Data Protection Officer contact if you appointed one
- International transfers disclosure if data leaves the EU
- Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information link for California residents
- Categories of personal information collected in the past 12 months (CCPA requirement)
- Sensitive personal information disclosures under CPRA
What the Shopify default misses
Shopify has a built-in policy generator for store terms and privacy that is fine for a starter store to get started with. However, it does lack a few key elements such as the legal basis under GDPR for collecting certain information, the language to allow CCPA opt-out, the list of third-party processors (e.g. email marketing platform, site analytics, reviews app), the retention periods for data, and contact information for data subject requests. This free policy generator can fill in these gaps for you.
This is not legal advice. If you do enough business or are selling a product in a regulated category such as: health / nutritional supplements, alcohol, children’s products etc. You may want a lawyer to review the terms as the terms generator was written to get you about 90% of the way there. A lawyer can finish off the last 10% for you.
Plus vs standard plans
Shopify Plus enables wholesale channels, B2B terms and even a custom checkout experience for certain stores. However, this means that you will need to add some policy notes to advise B2B customers of terms such as pricing for individual customers, as well as terms related to payment on a net basis. Basic Shopify plans are pretty simple and don’t require too many policies. But either way, these four core policies are still going to be necessary for your terms of service.
If your store lists in color or style variants, group these products together with Rubik Combined Listings, a powerful tool that helps customers have clear expectations of what they will pay before they ever check out. The variant images for each product variant can also be laid out in an organized and clean manner with Rubik Variant Images.
Related tools on this site
- Policy generator: four policies with GDPR and CCPA
- Robots.txt generator
- All free Shopify tools
See the live demo store, watch the tutorial video, or read the getting started guide.
FAQ
Do I legally need a privacy policy on Shopify?
If this store collects your email address and real name (street address, etc.), then yes it has to disclose what it does with this information in a published Privacy Policy as required by GDPR, CCPA and any number of other data privacy laws. Additionally, if you’re going to use Shopify Payments, then you’re required to have a published Privacy Policy prior to activating Payment Processing.
Can I use Shopify’s default policy generator?
Yes. This is a good starting point, but the cookie policy I use is missing some GDPR legal basis language, CCPA opt-out language, and language regarding third-party processors. I try to fill in the gaps.
How often should I update my store policies?
Whenever the rules change, you add a new piece of software to process transactions (email platform, analytics, review app), you change shipping zones or head into a new regulated market.
What is the difference between GDPR and CCPA?
GDPR is the EU data protection law. CCPA (and CPRA) is the California version. Both laws provide individual consumers with privacy rights to ask for access, deletion or opt out. The required disclosures and how submissions are processed differ however.
Do I need a separate shipping policy?
Yes. Most EU consumer transparency legislation and US state laws require retailers to publish estimated delivery times and any additional shipping charges before a customer completes their order.
Is a template good enough, or do I need a lawyer?
A good template is about half the battle. For products that require disclosure (nutraceuticals, alcohol, children’s products), and for large retailers, have your lawyer review the language once you have completed the template.
Where do store policies need to appear?
These policies need to be linked in the footer of your store as well as referred to at checkout. Shopify will automatically add the checkout footer for you once you publish these policies in your admin. Then you can link to them in your website’s footer.
