PayPal Privacy Policy Review
This review explains the PayPal U.S. Privacy Statement in plain language for families and older adults. It was checked on October 28, 2026, against the version last updated October 12, 2026. The statement is very long, and its sale and sharing section was not read in full. This is not legal advice.
Primary source: PayPal Privacy Statement. It is issued by PayPal, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Snapshot
- For personalized shopping in the U.S., PayPal discloses personal information collected after November 27, 2024 to partners and merchants. You can opt out in Data and Privacy settings.
- “We may use Personal Information to train our artificial intelligence (AI) models that power our Services.”
- PayPal may collect biometrics such as voice identification, photo identification or face scans.
- The services are not directed to children under 18.
What they collect
PayPal collects account balances, transaction history and details, “shopping activity and goods or services considered on Partners and Merchants sites,” IP-based location, and, for some features, biometric data “such as voice identification, photo identification, or face scans.”
Who gets the data
Merchants and partners can receive your information to personalize shopping. The statement’s full sale and sharing section was not read for this review, so we do not say more about it here.
Easy to miss
- The personalized shopping sharing applies to data collected after November 27, 2024, and stays on until you turn it off.
- Your shopping on other sites that use PayPal can be part of the data.
New technology
PayPal says it may use personal information to train its AI models. No opt-out for that was described in the sections read.
Kids and families
“The Sites and Services are not directed to children under the age of 18.” Teens should not have their own PayPal account.
Older adults
PayPal’s name is used in many scams: fake invoices, refund calls and “your account is limited” emails. Log in by typing paypal.com yourself. Never call a phone number printed in an unexpected invoice. Our refund scams guide explains the pattern.
What you can turn off
- In Data and Privacy settings, turn off sharing with partners and merchants for personalized shopping.
- In the same section, adjust what other users can see about you.
What this means for you
PayPal now shares shopping data with merchants unless you switch it off, and trains AI on personal data. One trip to Data and Privacy fixes the sharing.
How do I stop PayPal sharing my shopping data?
The statement says to edit your preferences in the Data and Privacy setting to opt out of disclosures to partners and merchants for personalized shopping.
This is not legal advice. Checked October 28, 2026 against the statement last updated October 12, 2026.
