Shoppers’ Biggest Fear About AI? Data Privacy—Here’s How to Protect Yourself
If you’ve used an AI shopping assistant lately—a tool that suggests products, compares prices, or helps you find the best deal—you’ve likely noticed how smoothly it works. But you may also have wondered: what does this tool know about me?
A recent survey from eMarketer confirms that this unease is widespread. According to the data, data privacy is shoppers’ number one fear when using AI shopping tools—by a wide margin. The finding underscores a growing tension between convenience and control over personal information.
What happened
eMarketer’s survey (conducted in early 2026) asked online shoppers about their primary concerns with AI-driven shopping features. The results show that a clear majority pointed to data privacy as their top worry—far ahead of other concerns like accuracy of recommendations, cost savings, or usability.
The exact percentages from the survey are not yet publicly available in full detail, but the headline finding is clear: when people think about AI in e-commerce, they think first about who gets their data and how it is used.
Why it matters
AI shopping tools often work by collecting significant amounts of personal information. They track your browsing history, purchase patterns, search terms, and sometimes even your location. This data is used to train recommendation models and personalize offers. But the same data can also be shared with third parties, sold to advertisers, or used to build detailed profiles of your behavior.
The eMarketer finding reflects a broader shift in consumer awareness. Shoppers are no longer willing to accept data collection without understanding the trade-offs. And with new privacy regulations in several regions, companies are under increasing pressure to be transparent.
Still, it is important to acknowledge that not all AI shopping tools are equally invasive. Some operate entirely on-device or with minimal data retention. But distinguishing between them is not always easy for the average user.
What readers can do
You do not have to give up the convenience of AI shopping tools to protect your privacy. Here are concrete steps you can take today.
1. Use incognito or private browsing windows for initial searches. This prevents the shopping site and its AI assistants from linking your searches to your main browsing profile. It will not make you anonymous, but it reduces persistent tracking.
2. Limit permissions granted to shopping apps and browser extensions. Many AI shopping assistants ask for access to your full browsing history, not just the site you are on. You can often deny that permission and still use the tool for basic tasks. On mobile, review the app permissions in your phone’s settings.
3. Choose tools that offer a privacy-first promise. A growing number of AI assistants are designed to process data locally or to retain minimal information. Look for tools that state clearly in their privacy policy that they do not sell your data or use it for ad targeting. If the policy is vague or deliberately complicated, treat that as a warning sign.
4. Where possible, opt out of data collection for AI training. Many retailers now include a setting that lets you decline to have your interactions used to improve their AI models. It may be buried in your account settings, but it is worth finding. Opting out does not break the tool; it only prevents your data from being fed into future models.
5. Check privacy policies of retailers you shop with regularly. Policies change. A store you trusted a year ago may have updated its data-sharing practices. A quick read of the “Data Collection” and “Third-Party Sharing” sections can tell you whether the retailer treats your information the way you expect.
6. Consider using a privacy-focused browser or search engine. Some browsers block tracking scripts that many AI shopping assistants rely on. Using them can reduce the amount of data collected without you having to think about it.
These steps will not eliminate all privacy risks, but they will meaningfully reduce the exposure of your personal information. No single action is foolproof, and the level of protection depends on the specific tools you use. Taking even one or two steps puts you ahead of most shoppers.
Sources
- eMarketer survey (2026): Data privacy is shoppers’ biggest AI shopping fear, by far. (Original article published May 5, 2026, via Google News archive.)
- Further context from public privacy policy comparisons by Consumer Reports and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), referenced generally for best practices.
If you have specific concerns about a particular AI shopping tool, checking its privacy policy directly remains the most reliable step.