Is Shopify Sidekick safe for business data?
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.
Training, plan by plan
- Not used for training: Shopify stores: not used for the core AI models.
What it does with your data
| 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 chats are 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 read them | 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 |
How to turn training off
- 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 a sensitive conversation, turn off memory so Sidekick does not save new details from it. Source: help.shopify.com
- To remove a conversation, open Sidekick conversations, click the icon next to it, and click Delete. Source: help.shopify.com
Safer setup for a small team
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.
Plan to approve: Your company Shopify store, staff accounts
Setting to check: Least-privilege staff permissions
A line for your AI 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.
Want this in your team’s AI policy? The SafeStart kit, a plain-English AI policy and training for small teams, is coming soon.
Questions about your own setup? Write to hello@terrapilgrim.org.
What changed
No changes recorded since we first published this page on October 23, 2026. Every change goes in the change log.
Sources (3)
- shopify.com/enterprise/blog/sidekick-ai-enterprise · read on October 23, 2026
“Store data is never used to train foundation models and is never shared with other merchants.”
- help.shopify.com/en/manual/ai-powered-tools/sidekick/memory · read on October 23, 2026
“Sidekick can refer to your recent activity for about 12 hours, and then it's no longer available.”
- shopify.com/legal/privacy · read on October 23, 2026
“Your information is then sent to other Shopify locations and to service providers who may be located in other regions, including Canada (where we are headquartered) and the United States.”
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