2023 Report

Compelled Disclosure

In 2023, Shopify’s Regulatory Affairs team received a total of 2,954 legal access submissions. 2,262 of these requests were properly formed legal requests, of which 1,394 were compelled disclosure requests. We objected to 750 of those 1,394 compelled disclosure requests (54 percent).

This report includes data from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023.

Our Guiding Principles

Shopify is committed to protecting the privacy of our merchants, customers, partners, and everyone who entrusts us with their personal information. We are publishing this Transparency Report to make commerce better for everyone by building consumer confidence through transparency, and support an informed public debate on privacy rights by joining other members of our industry in reporting on government and other legal requests for access to data.

Our Process

To protect the privacy of our merchants, customers, and partners, we endeavor to minimize the amount of personal information we disclose. Our process upon receipt of a request to produce information about a merchant, a merchant’s customer, or a partner is as follows:

  • We will refuse to disclose personal information without a valid and enforceable subpoena or court order.

  • Legal requests must be addressed to the correct Shopify entity (for example, Shopify Inc. or Shopify International Limited).

  • We will always notify affected individuals before we disclose information, unless prohibited by law, and minimize the amount of personal information that we disclose.

We review the following factors in determining whether we will comply with a legal request:

  • Jurisdiction and authority of requester

  • Type of legal request

  • Shopify entity and type of information requested

  • In 2023, we received legal requests for information from 49 countries.

    CountryCount
    United States650
    France483
    Netherlands281
    Germany198
    Spain166
    Brazil151
    India61
    United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland40
    Russian Federation39
    Canada33
    Australia28
    Argentina24
    Italy16
    Switzerland16
    Austria11
    Denmark9
    Belgium6
    Hungary6
    Ireland6
    Sweden5
    Indonesia5
    Singapore3
    New Zealand3
    Czechia3
    Lithuania3
    Norway2
    Chile2
    Finland2
    Cyprus2
    Hong Kong SAR2
    Morocco1
    Poland1
    China1
    Peru1
    Costa Rica1
    Turkey1
  • In 2023, we received different types of legal requests, including Grand Jury Subpoenas, Search Warrants, Preservation Orders, and Summons.

    Order typeCount
    Takedown request709
    Administrative request502
    Law enforcement request360
    Invalid request316
    Subpoena186
    Request improperly routed141
    Followup to prior legal request110
    Grand Jury Subpoena109
    General inquiry108
    Administrative notice100
    Temporary Restraining Order81
    Court order59
    Complaint34
    Injunction, preliminary or permanent30
    Summons29
    Search Warrant19
    Preservation19
    Request for merchant funds18
    Letter17
    Access limitation7

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