Walmart Privacy Policy Review

This review explains Walmart’s own customer privacy notice in plain language, for shoppers, parents, and older adults. It was last checked on October 31, 2026. The notice in effect is still the version updated August 20, 2026. This is not Walmart’s pharmacy or vision notice, and it is not legal advice.

Primary source: Walmart Customer Privacy Notice.

Snapshot

• Covers U.S. and Puerto Rico stores, websites, and apps where this notice is posted.
• Collects identifiers, purchases, device IDs, and, with consent, precise location, camera, microphone, and biometrics.
• Uses information for orders, ads, recommendations, fraud checks, and, in Walmart’s words, “training our AI.”
• May disclose information to Sam’s Club and other corporate-family companies, vendors, advertisers, and, for some categories, business partners for their own use.
• You can opt out of sale, sharing and targeted ads through the “Your Privacy Choices” link.
• Sites are not directed to children. Walmart says it does not knowingly collect personal information from children online.

Five-minute Walmart opt-out

Every step below is named in Walmart’s notice. Sign in to your Walmart account first, so the choices attach to the account and not just one browser.

1. Opt out of sale and sharing. Scroll to the footer of Walmart.com, or open Settings in the app, and select “Your Privacy Choices.” That is also where you ask to see, correct or delete your data, depending on your state.
2. Turn off interest-based ads. Walmart’s advertising settings in your Walmart.com account let you opt out of ads tailored to your interests on Walmart.com and on other sites where Walmart buys ad space. You will still see ads, just not targeted ones.
3. Turn on Global Privacy Control. If your browser supports it, Walmart honors it. Sent while you are signed in, Walmart says it extends to your account, including linked VIZIO TVs that support it.
4. Check the phone. In your phone’s settings, review location, Bluetooth and microphone access for the Walmart app. Turning off the microphone stops the “Hey, Walmart” wake word.
5. Unlink a VIZIO TV at VIZIO.com/account if you do not want viewing data combined with your Walmart account.

Shoppers in California, Texas and Nebraska can also make privacy requests by calling 1-800-Walmart (1-800-925-6278) and saying “Privacy.” If Walmart turns down a request, residents of some states can appeal on Walmart’s privacy request page with the Privacy Request ID and ZIP code.

What they collect

The notice lists basic identifiers such as name, phone, email, and address, plus device and online identifiers such as IP address, cookie IDs, and mobile ad IDs. It also lists purchase history, communications with Walmart, demographics if you provide them, payment numbers, and inferences about preferences.

Location is imprecise by default, inferred from an IP address. Precise location is collected only if you consent. In stores, Bluetooth and free Wi-Fi can be used to recognize that your phone is in the store and to show nearby products.

Who gets the data

Walmart says it may disclose personal information within its corporate family, including Sam’s Club and One Finance, in ways consistent with this notice. Vendors get information to ship, bill, and process payments. Marketplace sellers get information needed to provide their product to you, and the notice says they are prohibited from using it for other purposes.

Advertising partners, social platforms, and measurement vendors also receive information. Appendix 1 says identifiers, commercial information, geolocation, sensory information, and inferences may be sold or shared with business partners for their own independent use, not only to serve Walmart. That is the state-law “sale or share” point. Text-message opt-in data is an exception: Walmart says it will not disclose that consent data to third parties for their own marketing.

Easy to miss

• Email, push, and postal mail are opt-out. Automated calls and texts are opt-in. Stopping mail can take six to ten weeks.
• An interest-based ad opt-out made through a browser cookie applies to that browser on that computer. If you clear cookies, you have to opt out again. The account-level setting and Global Privacy Control while signed in are sturdier.
• Other “do not track” signals, besides Global Privacy Control, are not honored.
• If you give a phone number at the register, Walmart may store it with your account and use the purchase to tailor online ads.

New technology

The August 20, 2026 update added voice interactions. If you turn on the shopping voice assistant and consent to the microphone, the app “will continually listen for the key words ‘Hey, Walmart'” while the app is open. Walmart says it does not keep audio from before that phrase, and that it does not use voice data for biometric analysis. A text transcription is what Walmart receives.

Virtual try-on is separate. Eyeglass try-on collects biometric measurements and the notice says that data is deleted within 48 hours and is not sold or shared. Makeup try-on images are not stored, but measurements and images may be shared with Perfect Corp. Apparel try-on photos may be used to improve the tool.

VIZIO is owned by Walmart. Viewing and app data stay under the VIZIO policy unless you opt in to combine them with your Walmart account. You can turn that link off at VIZIO.com/account. In-store cameras and, where the law allows, license-plate readers are also described. A separate ALPR notice was not opened for this review.

Kids and families

Walmart says its sites are for a general audience and are not directed to children, defined as under 13 or 14 depending on the region. It does not knowingly collect personal information from children online. A child-directed service would post a separate notice. If you share a Walmart+ membership, the primary member can see some benefit information, such as aggregate savings by category.

A smart TV in the family room is part of this picture too. Our smart home security guide covers TV viewing-data settings room by room.

Older adults

You can update contact and payment details in the account. To delete the account, the notice says to use Contact Us, or in the app open Account and use Delete Account. Identity checks for privacy requests may include a one-time passcode. Do not give that code to someone who calls you claiming to be Walmart. Walmart gift card requests from a “government agent” or “tech support” caller are always a scam. See gift cards are only for gifts.

What this means for you

A normal Walmart purchase creates a record that can follow you into ads, and some of that information can go to business partners for their own use unless you opt out. The newest sharp edges are the always-listening wake word, camera try-on, and the optional link between Walmart and a VIZIO TV. Five minutes in “Your Privacy Choices” and the ad settings, while signed in, handles most of it.

Does Walmart sell personal information?

The notice says some disclosures may be deemed a sale or share under state privacy laws, and Appendix 1 lists categories sold or shared with business partners for their own use. You can opt out through Your Privacy Choices or Global Privacy Control.

How do I stop Walmart targeted ads?

Sign in to Walmart.com, open the advertising settings, and opt out of interest-based ads. Also use “Your Privacy Choices” in the site footer or app settings to opt out of targeted advertising, sale and sharing.

Is the Walmart app always listening?

Only if you turn on the voice assistant and allow the microphone. Then it listens for “Hey, Walmart” while the app is open. Walmart says it does not keep audio from before the wake word. Turn off microphone access for the app in your phone’s settings to stop it.

Is the pharmacy covered here?

No. Pharmacy, vision, and financial products have separate notices. Those pages were not opened for this review.

This is not legal advice. It is a reading of the customer privacy notice as last checked on October 31, 2026. Menus move. Recheck the notice if you are about to rely on a setting.

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