Which shopping app collects the most data about you?

Scrolling through tempting deals on Temu, Shein, AliExpress, or other shopping apps is a Black Friday tradition for many. But before downloading any shopping app, consider this: are you willing to trade your privacy for a discount?

A new Surfshark study reveals that many popular shopping apps are collecting far more data than you might realize. We are not just talking about what you buy. Some apps gather deeply personal information — like political views, racial background, and even biometric and health data. Interestingly, US-based shopping apps collect more than China-based apps. Let’s take a look at more findings below.

Key insights

• We analyzed the 10 most popular shopping apps in the US and found that US-based apps tend to collect more data compared to their Chinese and Canadian counterparts. For example, Amazon collects 25 unique data types out of 35, Walmart and Costco each collect 23, and Whatnot — another US-based app — collects 20. Among Chinese apps, Alibaba is the most data-hungry, collecting 19 unique data types, followed by Temu with 17, Aliexpress with 16, and Shein with 15. The Canadian app, Shop, collects 19 data types, which places it on par with the most data-collecting Chinese app.
• All the analyzed apps collect information such as email address, name, payment information, physical address, user ID, search history, and product interaction. The majority of these apps also gather device IDs (except for Temu), phone numbers (except for Shein), photos or videos (except for Shop), and location data (except for Shein). Additionally, most of this collected data is directly linked to individual users, enabling these apps to build comprehensive user profiles, which raises privacy concerns.
• An even more concerning trend is that seven of the analyzed apps also share collected information with data brokers or other third parties for the purpose of tracking users¹. Apple does not list the exact data types that are shared, but instead provides only broad categories. Among the apps, Alibaba shares purchases, contact information, and identifiers such as user ID or device ID; Walmart shares purchases, identifiers, and usage data; Whatnot shares identifiers and usage data; Costco shares browsing history; and Aliexpress, Shein, and Capital One share identifiers.
• Additionally, six of the analyzed shopping apps — including Amazon, Walmart, Costco, Whatnot, Alibaba, and Capital One — collect user data specifically for third-party advertising purposes. This means that apps share data with entities that display third-party ads¹, leaving user information even more exposed to privacy risks. For example, Walmart shares advertising data, device ID, and user ID. Alibaba shares email address, name, and physical address. Amazon shares advertising data and user ID. Costco shares browsing history, Whatnot shares user ID, and Capital One shares device ID.
• Amazon Shopping stands out not only by collecting the most unique data types among popular shopping apps, but also by gathering 20 data types for the category labeled as ‘’Other Purposes’’. Among all the apps analyzed, only Shein also collects data for this purpose, and it does so with just three data types. Apple outlines six possible purposes for data collection on its platform, but the “Other Purposes” category is the most vague — defined¹ only as “any other purposes not listed.” As a result, Amazon can collect a large amount of user data for unspecified reasons, leaving users with little transparency about how their information might be used.
• Some of the data collected by these shopping apps is surprising and even bizarre. For instance, Amazon and Walmart collect sensitive information — which could include political opinions, racial or ethnic background, biometric data, genetic information, sexual orientation, disability status, or pregnancy details. Whatnot and Alibaba collect users’ contacts, such as contact lists from a user’s phone or address book. In addition, Amazon, Walmart, Whatnot, and Alibaba collect users’ voice or sound recordings.

Methodology and sources

We identified the 10 most popular shopping apps in the US based on AppMagic² rankings for 2025 to analyze and assess their data collection practices. The selected apps were Amazon, Walmart, Costco, Whatnot, Shop, Alibaba, Temu, AliExpress, Shein, and Capital One Shopping. Our analysis focused on determining the total number of data types collected by each app, evaluating the stated purposes for data collection, and comparing these practices across the different apps. Information was gathered from publicly available privacy policies on the Apple App Store.

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