Mandatory webhooks
Mandatory webhooks help you manage the user data that an app collects.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets requirements for any party that collects, stores, or processes the personal data of individuals in Europe. However, Shopify mandates GDPR regulations for all user data, regardless of whether an individual is located in Europe.
You need to ensure that any public app you build for the Shopify platform is GDPR-compliant, regardless of whether your app currently collects personal data. Shopify provides mandatory webhooks to help.
If you don't provide URLs for the mandatory webhooks, or your app doesn't respond to these webhooks as required, then your app will be rejected and you'll need to fix the identified problem before submitting your app for another review.
Mandatory webhooks
Every public app must subscribe to the following webhook topics:
| Topic | Event |
|---|---|
customers/data_request |
Requests to view stored customer data |
customers/redact |
Requests to delete customer data |
shop/redact |
Requests to delete shop data |
Respond to mandatory webhooks
When you receive one of the mandatory webhooks, you need to take the following actions:
Confirm that you've received the request by responding with a
200series status code.Complete the action within 30 days of receiving the request. An exception is cases where you're unable to comply with a redaction request because you're legally required to retain data.
Learn more about how to receive and respond to webhooks.
Manage endpoints for mandatory webhooks
You can configure mandatory webhooks in the Partner Dashboard before publishing your app.
Your endpoint must be an HTTPS webhook address. It requires a valid SSL certificate that can correctly process webhook event notifications. For more information, refer to Register an endpoint.
From your Partner Dashboard, go to Apps.
Click the app that you want to update.
Click App setup.
In the GDPR mandatory webhooks section, update your endpoints.
Click Save.
customers/data_request
Customers can request their data from a store owner. When this happens, Shopify sends a payload on the customers/data_request topic to the apps that are installed on that store.
If your app has been granted access to customer or order data, then it will receive a data request webhook. The webhook contains the resource IDs of the customer data that you need to provide to the store owner. It's your responsibility to provide this data to the store owner directly. In some cases, a customer record contains only the customer's email address.
customers/data_request payload
customers/redact
Store owners can request that data is deleted on behalf of a customer. When this happens, Shopify sends a payload on the customers/redact topic to the apps installed on that store.
If your app has been granted access to the store's customer or order data, then it will receive a redaction request webhook with the resource IDs that you need to redact or delete. In some cases, a customer record contains only the customer's email address.
If a customer hasn't placed an order in the past six months, then Shopify sends the payload 10 days after the deletion request. Otherwise, the request is withheld until six months have passed.
customers/redact payload
shop/redact
48 hours after a store owner uninstalls your app, Shopify sends a payload on the shop/redact topic. This webhook provides the store's shop_id and shop_domain so that you can erase data for that store from your database.
shop/redact payload
Next steps
Learn how to manage webhooks for different API versions.
Learn more about how GDPR affects developers and Shopify.
Familiarize yourself with app privacy policies, data rights, and marketing as they relate to GDPR.