15 min article

User Privacy Notice

In our User Privacy Notice we have compiled all essential information about our handling of your personal data and your corresponding rights.

This User Privacy Notice is effective from April 8, 2024. View the previous User Privacy Notice.

1. Scope and updates of this User Privacy Notice

This User Privacy Notice applies to your use of this website and all eBay applications, services (including payment services), products and tools (collectively the "Services") provided by eBay Inc. or its affiliates (eBay Inc. and the companies it directly or indirectly controls are referred to as "eBay Affiliates"). This User Privacy Notice applies regardless of how you access or use these Services, including access via mobile devices and apps. For additional regional and state disclosures, please see section 12. Regional and State Privacy Disclosures below.

Learn more about section 1

2. Controller

Which eBay Affiliate is responsible for the collection and processing of your personal data in connection with the provision of the Services depends on how you use our Services.

2.1 Use of the Services (except payment services for sellers)

Depending on the region in which you reside, one of the following eBay Affiliates is responsible for the collection and processing of your personal data in connection with the provision of our Services (except payment services for sellers). Your region of residence is determined based on your account registration address (as a registered user) or your location (when not registered):

USA: eBay Inc., 2025 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125, USA
Canada: eBay Canada Limited, 240 Richmond Street West, 2nd Floor Suite 02-100 Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1V6, Canada
EU: eBay GmbH, Albert-Einstein-Ring 2-6, 14532 Kleinmachnow, Germany
United Kingdom: eBay (UK) Limited, 1 More London Place, London, SE1 2AF, United Kingdom
India: eBay Singapore Services Private Limited, 10 Collyer Quay, #10-01 Ocean Financial Centre, Singapore 049315
For all other countries: eBay Marketplaces GmbH, Helvetiastrasse 15/17, 3005 Bern, Switzerland

2.2 Use of the payment services for sellers

Depending on the region in which you reside or where your payments are processed, the following eBay Affiliates are responsible for the collection and processing of your personal data in connection with the provision of our payment services to you as a seller:

USA: eBay Commerce Inc., 2065 Hamilton Ave., San Jose, CA 95125, USA
EEA/CH: eBay S.à r.l., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg
UK: eBay Commerce UK Ltd., 1 More London Place, London SE1 2AF, United Kingdom
Canada: eBay Commerce Canada Limited, 44 Chipman Hill, Suite 1000, Saint John NB E2L 2A9, Canada
Australia: eBay Commerce Australia Pty. Ltd., Level 18, 1 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
For all other countries: eBay Commerce Inc., 2065 Hamilton Ave., San Jose, CA 95125, USA

As described in our Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab, your personal data may be processed by one or more of these entities depending on your location and the eBay website on which a user completes a transaction with you.

3. Data protection officer and contact

We have appointed data protection officers in several countries to oversee the protection of your personal data. You will find the contact details of your data protection officer in the list of our data protection officers - opens in new window or tab in our eBay Privacy Center - opens in new window or tab.

Furthermore, if you have any questions or complaints regarding this User Privacy Notice, our global data protection principles (see section 6.1 Data transfers to eBay Affiliates under section 6. Cross-border data transfers below) or our handling of personal data, you can contact the eBay Privacy Team or the controller who is responsible for the processing of your personal data at any time (for further information, see section 2. Controller above). This applies regardless of whether we have appointed a data protection officer in your country. You can find all necessary information and contact details - opens in new window or tab in our eBay Privacy Center - opens in new window or tab.

4. What personal data we collect and process

We collect your personal data when you use our Services, create a new eBay account, provide us with information via a web form, add or update information in your eBay account, participate in online community discussions or otherwise interact with us. We also collect personal data from other sources (such as other eBay Affiliates, credit agencies or bureaus, and data providers).

Learn more about section 4

In total, we collect the following personal data:

4.1 Personal data you provide when using our Services or creating an eBay account

Data that identifies you, such as your name, address, telephone numbers, email addresses, username or tax identification number that you provide when setting up your eBay account or at a later date.
If you use our Services as a seller, additional identification data, such as, government-issued ID (e.g. social security number), date of birth, tax identification numbers (such as VAT identification number), business registration numbers, identification documents and information contained on IDs, selfie photos, and other information (such as bank account number) that you provide when using our payment and other services as a seller.
Data regarding bids, purchases, or sales that you provide in a transaction.
Content that you share with other users through our messaging tools (see Filtering of messages sent via our messaging tools under section 11. Other important information regarding data protection for more information).
Financial information (e.g. credit card and account numbers, transaction details, and form of payment).
Shipping, billing, and other information you provide, as well as information required for customs clearance (such as tax identification numbers or other identification numbers) and relevant shipping information (such as shipment numbers and tracking information) if shipped through one of our programs.
In some cases: age, gender, country of birth, nationality, country of residence, employment status, family status, interests and preferences.
When you submit a report to eBay: Data that identifies you, such as your name and email address, and additional information that you provide with your report.
You may provide us with additional information through a web form or by updating or adding information to your eBay account, by participating in community discussions, member chats, surveys, inquiries, dispute resolution, customer service calls recorded with your consent, or if you contact us for any other reason regarding our Services.
Other data that we are required or entitled by applicable law to collect and process and that we need for your authentication or identification, or for the verification of the data we collect.

4.2 Personal data we collect automatically when you use our Services or create an eBay account

Data that is generated as part of one of your transactions (e.g. as relating to bids, purchases, sales, fees) or that is linked to your eBay account as a result of a transaction in which you are involved, such as transaction amounts, time and location of transactions and form of payment or payout method.
Data that is generated through your other actions when you use our Services and which is linked to your eBay account (e.g. eBay account numbers, your currency preference, when you place items in your shopping cart, place items on the watchlist, save sellers, searches or interests, follow users, or seek to use the services of third-party partners for payments or otherwise).
Data regarding all other interactions with our Services, your advertising preferences, and your communications with us.
Location data, including your general location data (e.g. IP address) and, with your permission, the precise location data of your mobile device. Please note that for most mobile devices, you can manage or disable the use of precise location services for all applications in the settings menu of your mobile device.
Certain metadata recording the settings of your camera included in images of items you upload for sale.
Computer and connection information, such as statistics regarding your use of our Services, information on data traffic to and from websites, referral URL, information on advertisements, your IP address, your access times including accessed pages within our Services, your language settings and your weblog information.

4.3 Personal data we collect in connection with the use of cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to collect data in connection with our Services. We collect this data from the devices (including mobile devices) with which you use our Services. The data collected includes the following usage- and device-related information:

Data about the pages you visit, the access time, frequency and duration of visits, the links on which you click and other actions you take as part of your use of our Services and in advertising and email content.
Data about your activities and interactions with our advertising partners including data about the advertisements you were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action, such as clicking on an advertisement or making a purchase.
The user segment or category into which you as a user fall, for example: female, 20-49 years old, interested in sneakers.
Model or device type, operating system and version, browser type and settings, device ID or individual device identifier, advertisement ID, individual device token, and cookie-related data (e.g. cookie ID).
The IP address from which your device accesses our Services.
Location data, including your general location data (e.g. IP address) and, with your permission, the precise location data of your mobile device. Please note that most mobile devices allow you to manage or disable the use of precise location services for all applications in the settings menu.

For more information about our use of these technologies and your choices, see section 9. Cookies & similar technologies.

4.4 Personal data from other sources

We also collect personal data about you from other sources and from third parties to the extent permitted by applicable law. In particular, this includes the following data:

Data from public sources (e.g. public sanctions lists) or that is publicly available online.
Data from credit agencies or bureaus (e.g. credit reports/checks, identity confirmation, data for risk modeling and setting of credit limits). For additional regional and state-specific information, please see section 12. Regional and State Privacy Disclosures below.
Data from data providers (e.g. "Know Your Customer"/identity verification, demographic, interest-based and online advertising related data).
With regard to our payment services for sellers: data from government or other sources concerning any previous convictions of the respective seller, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

We combine or connect the personal data we collect from you with data from these other sources. Where personal data is disclosed to us by third parties, we take steps to ensure that these third parties are legally permitted to disclose your personal data to us. We also receive access to personal data about you from eBay Affiliates.

4.5 Social network data you share with us

We allow you to use providers of single sign-on services (such as Google, Facebook, or Apple) with whom you already have an account to create an eBay account or to link your eBay account to such single sign-on services. You can determine the personal data that we can access when authorizing the connection with the single sign-on service.
We allow you to share personal data with social networks (such as Facebook) or to link your eBay account to a social network. These social networks may automatically provide us with access to certain personal data they have stored about you (e.g. content you have viewed or enjoyed, information about the advertisements you have been shown or clicked on, etc.). You can determine the personal data that we can access through the privacy settings of each social network.
We may also use plug-ins or other technologies from various social networks. If you click on a link displayed through a social network plug-in, you voluntarily connect to that social network.

5. Purposes and legal basis for data processing and categories of recipients

We process your personal data for various purposes and based on several different legal bases that allow this processing. For example, we process your personal data to provide and improve our Services, to provide you with a personalized user experience on this website, to contact you about your eBay account and our Services, to provide customer service, to provide you with personalized advertising and marketing communications, and to detect, prevent, mitigate and investigate fraudulent or illegal activity. We also share your information with third parties, including service providers acting on our behalf, for these purposes. In addition, we may share your personal data among eBay Affiliates in order to fulfill our contract with you under the User Agreement and, if applicable, the Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab.

Learn more about section 5

Below you will find a summary of the purposes for which we process your personal data, including the categories of recipients to whom we transmit personal data for the purposes stated, sorted by our legal basis for this processing or sharing:

5.1 We process your personal data in order to fulfill our contract with you and to provide you with our Services as well as for the execution of the transaction between seller and buyer. This includes the following purposes:

Processing of data relating to you or your company for the purpose of entering into a contract with you and executing it.
Provision of our Services, including but not limited to enabling and performing transactions with other users (including the display and transmission of your personal data to other users where necessary to perform the transaction, including in cases of terminated, failed or subsequently voided transactions, e.g. by sharing your return address so a buyer may return an item), displaying your transaction and feedback history to you, providing and enhancing features such as payment processing, ratings, authentication services and eBay account management, providing other services you may use (as described in connection with such services), and ensuring the functionality of our Services. In connection with the provision of our Services, we will send you notifications relating to the execution of transactions and the use of our Services in accordance with the communication preferences in your eBay account.
Enabling the delivery of purchased items by logistics/shipping service providers including notifications in connection with the delivery (such as tracking information), the latter to the extent permitted by applicable law without your consent.
Provision of our payment services in accordance with the Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab.
Providing general customer support including the solution of problems with your eBay account, arbitration of disputes, providing other services within the scope of customer service as well as enforcement of fee claims. For these purposes, we may contact you via notification in My eBay, email, telephone, SMS, push notification on your mobile device or by mail. If we contact you by telephone, in order to ensure efficiency, we may use automatically dialed calls with tape announcements or automated text messages in accordance with our User Agreement and Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
Processing of general location data (such as IP address or postal code) in order to provide you with location-based services (such as radius search and other content that is personalized on the basis of your general location data).
Enforcement of our User Agreement, Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab, this User Privacy Notice and other rules and policies.
Publication and promotion of your listings and related content on the websites or in the applications, services and tools of eBay Affiliates or cooperating third-party operators of websites, applications, services and tools. When we share the content of your listings and any related personal data with third parties, we do so only on the basis of an agreement that limits the use of such personal data by the third party to the purposes necessary to fulfill its contractual obligations to us. Third-party providers are contractually obliged to take appropriate security measures with regard to this data. Third-party providers are strictly forbidden to pass on personal data contained in your listings to other third parties. In case of data transmissions to eBay Affiliates, such restrictions result from our Binding Corporate Rules (see section 6.1 Data transfers to eBay Affiliates under section 6. Cross-border data transfers below).
Enabling events for which you register (including handling the registration process and sending necessary information in the context of the event).

Where necessary, we transmit your personal data to processors and the following recipients for one or several of the purposes described above:

Other eBay users
eBay Affiliates
External service providers, authentication partners, physical storage service partners, shipping companies (such as DHL, UPS, etc.), and event agencies
Government agencies or public authorities (including customs and tax authorities)
Payment service providers
External operators of websites, applications, services and tools

5.2 We process your personal data in order to comply with legal obligations to which we are subject. This includes the following purposes:

Participation in investigations and proceedings (including judicial proceedings) conducted by public authorities or government agencies, in particular, for the purpose of detecting, investigating and prosecuting illegal acts.
Prevention, detection and mitigation (including compliance with reporting requirements) of illegal activities (e.g. fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, child abuse and violations of sanctions legislation).
Complying with information requests from third parties based on any statutory information rights they have against us (e.g. in the event of an intellectual property infringement, product piracy, or other unlawful activity).
Complying with information collection, verification, disclosure, reporting and other requirements under consumer protection, anti-fraud, online platform and tax legislation.
Complying with data access requirements under payment services legislation (e.g. under the EU Payment Services Directive) as a provider of payment services.
Ensuring the security of our Services.
Retention and storage of your personal data to comply with specific legal retention requirements (for more information on eBay's storage of your data, see section 7. Storage duration and erasure).

Where necessary, we transmit your personal data to processors and the following recipients for one or several of the purposes described above:

Law enforcement agencies, courts, government agencies or public authorities (including tax and financial authorities), intergovernmental or supranational bodies (in connection with our payment services provided in the EU for sellers in particular with regard to compliance with Luxembourg laws concerning FATCA dated July 7, 2015 and concerning the OECD Common Reporting Standard dated December 18, 2015)
Third parties based on statutory information claims against us, including participants in the eBay VeRO program - opens in new window or tab and the PROACT program
Third-party service providers
Other third-party service providers you select to access your data under payment services legislation and as authorized in each case by you
Third parties who are involved in judicial proceedings, in particular, if they submit a legal order, court order or equivalent legal order to us
Credit agencies, bureaus, or associations, if required by applicable law (e.g. information on payment delays, payment defaults or other irregularities that may be relevant to your credit report)
eBay Affiliates
Other eBay users

5.3 We process your personal data in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. This includes the following purposes:

Prevention, detection, mitigation and investigation of unlawful activities that may result in impairment of your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person, unless there is a statutory obligation to this effect.

Where necessary, we transmit your personal data to processors and the following recipients for one or several of the purposes described above:

Law enforcement agencies, courts, government agencies or public authorities, intergovernmental or supranational bodies
Third parties who are involved in judicial proceedings
eBay Affiliates
External service providers

5.4 We process your personal data where necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms. In order to reconcile our legitimate interests with your rights, we have introduced appropriate control mechanisms. On this basis, we process your data for the following purposes:

Participation in investigations and proceedings (including judicial proceedings) conducted by courts, law enforcement agencies, government agencies or public authorities, intergovernmental or supranational bodies, in particular for the purpose of detecting, investigating and prosecuting illegal acts, unless there is a statutory obligation to this effect, and we may legitimately assume that the disclosure of the data is necessary to avert imminent disadvantages or to report a suspicion of an illegal act. In such cases, we will only disclose what we believe is necessary, and to the extent permitted by applicable laws, such as your name, city, zip code, telephone number, email address, (previous) usernames, IP address, fraud complaints, bidding and listing history.
Protection of the legitimate interests of third parties (including participants of the VeRO program - opens in new window or tab and the PROACT program) in connection with civil law disputes, including the investigation of such disputes, unless there is a statutory obligation to this effect, if we may legitimately assume that it is necessary to disclose the data to such third parties in order to avert imminent disadvantages. In such cases, we will only disclose what we believe is necessary, and to the extent permitted by applicable laws, such as the seller's name, address, city, zip code, country, telephone number, email address and company name to the third party and bind the third party by a worldwide non-disclosure agreement to treat the data as confidential.
Prevention, detection, mitigation and investigation of fraud, financial crimes and harms, violation of international sanctions legislation, security incidents and other prohibited or unlawful activities, including the assessment of corresponding risks (e.g. through the use of captchas, a port enumeration technology to identify user sessions using remote desktop tools, metadata or the telephone number stored in your eBay account for risk assessments and two-factor authentication) and the implementation of corresponding measures (e.g. disabling certain forms of payment based upon the risk associated with the underlying transaction), unless there is a statutory obligation to this effect.
Verifying that reports submitted to eBay (incl. unnamed reports) are not fraudulent or malicious.
Monitoring and improvement of the security of our Services, unless there is a statutory obligation to this effect.
Performance of identity checks, creditworthiness and other financial standing checks, evaluation of applications and comparison of information for accuracy and verification purposes.
Automatic filtering and, where necessary, manual review of messages sent through our messaging tools (including chat messages and emails sent to eBay alias email addresses) to prevent fraudulent or suspicious activity or violations of our User Agreement or other rules and policies, including enforcing the prohibition of purchases and sales outside of eBay, as further explained below under Filtering of messages sent via our messaging tools (see section 11. Other important information regarding data protection).
Provision of functions for users that make the processing of transactions easier or more convenient (e.g. administration of several delivery addresses, updating stored payment information from time to time based on information provided by your bank or other payments services providers) or provide users with more information about their transactions (e.g., calculating CO₂ emissions from eBay purchases).
Analysis and improvement of the Services from eBay Affiliates, e.g. by reviewing site usage data or information from users about blocked or crashed pages in order to identify and solve problems and to provide you with an improved user experience, including as part of product development.
Analysis of telephone conversations with our customer service that we recorded with your consent.
Advertisements by mail (according to your communication preferences in your eBay account).
To the extent permitted by applicable law without your consent, communications with you via electronic mail (e.g. email or text message) or telephone to offer you vouchers, discounts and special offers, to conduct opinion polls and surveys, and to inform you about our Services (according to your communication preferences in your eBay account). If you no longer wish to receive marketing emails from us, you can also unsubscribe by clicking on the link in the footer of the email you received. For technical reasons, the implementation may take a few days.
For users outside the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland and the United Kingdom: Advertising and content personalization, measurement and analytics, on and off our sites, as explained in our Advertising and related preferences page - opens in new window or tab.
Customization of page content to display the items and services you may like based on the actions you take.
Evaluation of the quality and success of our email marketing campaigns (e.g. through analysis of opening and click rates).
Assessment of the service status (e.g. on the basis of tracking information if sellers use shipping labels from shipping providers via eBay or provide tracking numbers).
Offering or facilitating the offering of partner and bonus programs and other co-branded marketing efforts (e.g. product warranties, seller financing offers or co-branded credit cards in collaboration with a third-party lender, partner, or credit card issuer), to the extent permitted by applicable law.
Provision of shared content and services (such as registration for services, transaction processing and customer service) with eBay Affiliates or cooperating payment service providers.
Initiation, preparation and execution of a company acquisition, e.g. in the event of a merger with another company or takeover by another company. If such an event occurs, we will require the merged entity to comply with this User Privacy Notice with respect to your personal data. Should your personal data be processed for any purpose not specified in this User Privacy Notice, you will be informed in advance of the processing of your data for this new purpose.
Assertion of or defense against legal claims, including those asserted by one eBay user against another eBay user.
Enabling eBay Affiliates to comply with legal obligations they are subject to, including information collection, verification, disclosure, reporting and other requirements under consumer protection, anti-fraud, online platform and tax legislation.
To comply with an impending legal obligation.
For users in the United States: investigating and communicating the outcome of disputes with the affected users (e.g. sharing information about eBay's investigation of a complaint of a user's violation of a policy with the reporting user).

Where necessary, we transmit your personal data to processors and the following recipients for one or several of the purposes described above:

eBay Affiliates
External service providers
Other eBay users
Law enforcement agencies, courts, government agencies or public authorities, intergovernmental or supranational bodies
Third parties who are involved in judicial proceedings
Participants in the eBay VeRO program - opens in new window or tab, PROACT program, and other third parties in the event of an investigation for fraud, intellectual property infringement, retail crime, stolen goods, product piracy or other unlawful activity
Payment service providers
Third-party partners in furtherance of offering commercial financing opportunities
Credit agencies or bureaus, data verification services, risk assessment vendors and collections agencies (e.g. information about payment delays, payment defaults, or other irregularities that may be relevant to your credit report, or that we use to confirm your identity, model risk, establish credit limits, or collect unpaid debts)
Other companies in the context of a company acquisition

Information about your right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests can be found below under Rights as a data subject and, with regard to the use of cookies and similar technologies, below under Cookies & similar technologies.

5.5 With your consent, we process your personal data for the following purposes:

For users within the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland and the United Kingdom: Advertising and content personalization, measurement and analytics, on and off our sites, as explained on our Advertising and related preferences page - opens in new window or tab.
Communications with you via electronic mail (such as email or text message) or telephone, including communications by eBay Affiliates or by third parties, to offer you vouchers, discounts and special offers, unless these communications are permitted without your consent under applicable law. We may engage third parties to send marketing communications on our behalf.
Processing of your precise location data to provide location-based services. Please note that most mobile devices allow you to manage or disable the use of precise location services for all applications in the settings menu.
For users within the European Economic Area (EEA): Storing your financial information (e.g. credit card and account numbers) for future transactions.
Provision of a single sign-on service allowing you to register or log in to third-party services using your eBay sign-in credentials.
For sellers, processing of your biometric data to identify you and further prevent fraud and reduce other risks on our platform, and in connection with Know Your Customer and similar compliance requirements.
Processing of your personal data on the basis of your consent, which you have given so that we or third parties can enable you to use certain services or make them available to you.

You can find information about your right to withdraw your consent below under section 8. Rights as a data subject and information with regard to the use of cookies and similar technologies below under section 9. Cookies & similar technologies.

Where necessary, we transmit your personal data to processors and the following recipients for one or several of the purposes described above:

eBay Affiliates
External service providers
Third parties using our single sign-on service (as authorized by you in each single case)
Other third parties with whom we partner to offer you specific services (as described at the collection of the respective user consent)
Third-party advertising partners such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, Pinterest, and TikTok, as listed on our Advertising and related preferences page - opens in new window or tab

5.6 Data Sharing between eBay Affiliates

As set out above under "Personal data from other sources", we also receive access to personal data about you from other eBay Affiliates. This enables us, in particular, to provide you, with your consent as legally required, with information about products and services, which we believe might interest you, and improve our products, services, content, and advertising by analyzing your use of the services of eBay Affiliates, in particular through the matching of certain data (e.g. cookie IDs). Furthermore, this allows us to better prevent, detect, mitigate and investigate fraud, security incidents and other prohibited or unlawful activities, including the assessment of corresponding risks. We will also grant access to personal data about you to other eBay Affiliates for the aforementioned purposes. To the extent that other eBay Affiliates have access to your personal data, they will follow practices that are at least as restrictive as the practices described in this User Privacy Notice.

5.7 Additional information regarding our payment services for sellers

With regard to our payment services for sellers in the EEA and Switzerland, we additionally point out that eBay S.à r.l. is subject to professional secrecy, which requires special transparency with regard to the processing and, in particular, the transmission of your personal data. We therefore expressly draw your attention to the fact that eBay S.à r.l. may pass on your personal data to trustworthy third parties and business partners where necessary to provide our payment services for sellers, as described above in this Section 5 of the User Privacy Notice. This includes in particular the following third parties and business partners:

Other payment service providers, including financial institutions
Companies offering financial products, analyses and scoring (e.g. credit agencies or bureaus)
Authorities, agencies and other governmental bodies (e.g. to combat fraud)
Auditors and other professional advisors

5.8 Automated decision-making

We use technologies that are considered automated decision making or profiling. We will not make any automated decisions about you that would significantly affect you unless such a decision is necessary for entering into, or the performance of, a contract with you, we have obtained your consent, or we are required by applicable law to use such technology. You will find information on your right to object to this processing of your data below under section 8. Rights as a data subject.

6. Cross-border data transfers

Some recipients of your personal data are located outside your jurisdiction or have offices in jurisdictions where data protection laws may provide a different level of protection than the laws in your jurisdiction. When transferring personal data to such recipients, we provide appropriate safeguards.

Learn more about section 6

6.1 Data transfers to eBay Affiliates

The transmission of personal data between eBay Affiliates (e.g. to enable cross border transactions and for other legally permitted purposes) is based on our worldwide data protection principles, which are binding internal data protection regulations (Binding Corporate Rules, BCRs), or on the basis of other appropriate safeguards (e.g. standard data protection clauses issued or approved by the European Commission (2021/914/EU). Through our Binding Corporate Rules, eBay Affiliates undertake to protect your personal data and to comply with data protection obligations. Further information on our binding company-wide guidelines and our worldwide data protection principles can be found in the eBay Privacy Center - opens in new window or tab.

6.2 Other data transfers (from the European Economic Area to third countries)

We may transfer your personal data to recipients (see section 5. Purposes and legal basis for data processing and categories of recipients) who may be located anywhere in the world. We will only transfer your personal data from the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom or Switzerland to third countries, i.e. countries outside the EEA, on the basis of appropriate safeguards or if otherwise authorized by applicable law. Third countries providing an adequate level of data protection according to the European Commission currently include Andorra, Argentina, Canada (for companies covered by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act), Switzerland (for transfers out of the EEA), the Faroe Islands, Guernsey, the State of Israel, the Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States (Data Privacy Framework) and Uruguay. In other cases, eBay provides the necessary safeguards, e.g. through the conclusion of data protection contracts adopted by the European Commission (e.g. standard data protection clauses (2021/914/EU) with the recipients, or through other measures provided for by law. Additional information regarding the measures taken by us is available on request. We regularly re-evaluate the measures taken to assess requirements deriving from new regulatory guidance and case law.

7. Storage duration and erasure

Your personal data will be stored by us and our service providers in accordance with applicable data protection laws to the extent necessary for the processing purposes set out in this User Privacy Notice (see section 5. Purposes and legal basis for data processing and categories of recipients for more information on the processing purposes). Subsequently, we will delete your personal data in accordance with our data retention and deletion policy or take steps to properly render the data anonymous, unless we are legally obliged or permitted to keep your personal data longer (e.g. for legal compliance, tax, accounting or auditing purposes, or to detect and prevent fraudulent or illegal activity on eBay). In Europe, the retention periods are generally between 6 and 10 years (e.g. for contracts, notifications and business letters). As far as legally permissible or required, we restrict the processing of your data instead of deleting it (e.g. by restricting access to it). This applies in particular to cases where we may still need the data for the execution of the contract or for the assertion of or defense against legal claims, or where such retention is otherwise required or permitted by law. In these cases, the duration of the restriction of processing depends on the respective statutory limitation or retention periods. The data will be deleted after the relevant limitation or retention periods have expired.

Learn more about section 7

8. Rights as a data subject

Subject to possible restrictions under national law, as a data subject, you have the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and data portability with regard to your personal data. In addition, you can withdraw your consent and object to our processing of your personal data on the basis of our legitimate interests. You can also lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

Learn more about section 8

Your rights in detail:

Where we rely on consent you can withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data by us at any time. As a result, we may no longer process your personal data based on this consent in the future. The withdrawal of consent has no effect on the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
You have the right to obtain access to your personal data that is being processed by us. In particular, you may request information on the purposes of the processing, the categories of personal data concerned, the categories of recipients to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed, where possible the envisaged period for which the personal data will be stored or the criteria used to determine that period, the existence of the right to request rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing of personal data or to object to such processing, the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, any available information as to the personal data's source (where they are not collected from you), the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling and, where appropriate, meaningful information on its details. Your right to access shall not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others. Your right to access may be limited by national law.
You have the right to obtain from us without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning you. Taking into account the purposes of the processing, you have the right to have incomplete personal data completed, including by means of providing a supplementary statement.
You have the right to obtain from us the erasure of personal data concerning you under certain conditions (e.g. when the personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were processed or when they are no longer required for overriding legitimate grounds, such as the detection/prevention of fraud), unless processing is necessary for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information, for compliance with a legal obligation, for reasons of public interest or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims. The right to erasure may be limited by national law.
You have the right to obtain from us restriction of processing your personal data to the extent that
- the accuracy of the data is disputed by you,
- the processing is unlawful, but you oppose the erasure of the personal data,
- we no longer need the data, but you need it to assert, exercise or defend legal claims or
- you have objected to the processing.
You have the right to receive the personal data concerning you, which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to another controller ("right to data portability").
You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. As a rule, you can contact the supervisory authority of your usual place of residence, your place of work or the registered office of the controller.

If your personal data is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation. This also applies to profiling. If your personal data is processed by us for direct marketing purposes, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of your personal data for such marketing, which includes profiling to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing.

Exercising your rights and managing your settings

9. Cookies & similar technologies

When you use our Services, we and authorized third parties make use of cookies and similar technologies (which we will refer to collectively as "cookies") to provide you with a better, faster and safer user experience or to show you personalized advertising. You can find detailed information about the use of cookies and similar technologies and your choices in our User Cookie Notice.

Learn more about section 9

Your choices regarding cookies and similar technologies

10. Data security

We protect your personal data through technical and organizational security measures to minimize risks associated with data loss, misuse, unauthorized access and unauthorized disclosure and alteration. To this end we use network security services and data encryption, for example, as well as physical access restrictions for our data centers and logical access controls for data and systems access. You can find further information on our data security in our Security Center - opens in new window or tab.

11. Other important information regarding data protection

This section contains important additional information about the protection of personal data in connection with the use of our Services, including whether you are required to provide personal data.

Learn more about section 11

What happens when you share your personal data on our sites or applications?

Other users have access to the information you share on eBay or disclose to other users. For example, other users can see your bids, purchases, items for sale, saved interests, sellers and searches, storefronts, feedback, ratings, product reviews and associated comments. Other users can also see any information you choose to share in your profile.

When you use our Services, your public username may be displayed and available to the public and associated with all of your public eBay activity. Notices sent to other users about suspicious activity and notice violations on our sites may refer to your public username and specific items. Accordingly, if you use a username that allows others to identify you, these others may be able to identify your eBay activities.

To help protect your personal data, we allow only limited access to other users' contact, shipping and financial information as necessary to facilitate your transactions and collect payments. However, when users are involved in a transaction, they have access to each other's name, username, (alias) email address and other contact and shipping information. For example, we may allow users to exchange telephone numbers in order to contact each other prior to completing a transaction (e.g. a seller may opt to share their telephone number with a buyer so that the buyer may call with questions about a listed item). In this case, sellers are prohibited from using a buyer's telephone number for other purposes (e.g. completing a transaction off eBay or adding the buyer to a marketing list).

Your responsibilities over transactional information you receive through eBay

When you complete a transaction with another user (or a transaction has been canceled, failed, or subsequently invalidated), we will provide you with the other user's personal data (such as name, username, (alias) email address, contact information, shipping and billing information, or return address). Independent from us, you are the controller of such data and responsible for any processing that you perform after we have shared this data with you, including compliance with any limitations imposed by this User Privacy Notice and our User Agreement.

Unless you act for purely personal purposes, we recommend that you explain your data processing activities in your own privacy notice and protect the privacy of other users. As a seller, you must in any case comply with the applicable data protection laws and in particular protect the rights of other users as data subjects, e.g. give them the opportunity to access the personal data collected by you and demand that it be erased.

You may only use the personal data that you have access to for eBay transaction-related purposes, or for other Services offered through eBay (such as shipping, fraud complaints, and member-to-member communications), and for purposes expressly consented by the user to whom the data relates. Using personal data of other users that you have access to for any other purpose, such as adding them to a mailing list without their express consent, constitutes a violation of our User Agreement.

Personal data relating to third parties

If you provide us with personal data relating to another person, you must obtain the consent of this person or the disclosure of the data to us must be otherwise legally permissible. You must inform the other person of how we process personal data in accordance with our User Privacy Notice.

Filtering of messages sent via our messaging tools

All messages sent via our messaging tools (including chat messages and emails sent to eBay alias email addresses) are first received by us and then forwarded to the recipient. All messages are automatically filtered according to certain criteria. If necessary, conspicuous messages are checked manually by our customer service. In the event of a violation of our User Agreement (including any of our rules and policies), we reserve the right to block the transmission of the message and to restrict the purchase and sales functions of your eBay account or to block your eBay account.

This is to protect our legitimate interests such as protecting against fraudulent or suspicious activities (e.g. spam, viruses, phishing, or other illegal activities) or enforcing our User Agreement and our other rules and policies (e.g. illegal and other prohibited content), including but not limited to enforcing the prohibition of purchases and sales outside of eBay.

Use of Artificial Intelligence or AI-Powered Tools

We may use artificial intelligence or AI-powered tools and products to improve our Services, to offer you new or enhanced features, a customized and personalized experience, to provide you with enhanced customer service, and to support fraud detection.

Are you obliged to provide your personal data to us?

Some of the personal data that you provide to us (e.g. data by which we can identify you) are required to enter into the User Agreement and the Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab and/or to comply with legal obligations. For example, under the Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab you must provide us with certain identification information including legal name, date of birth, and tax identification number or social security number so that we may fulfill our legal "Know Your Customer" (KYC) obligations. As described in our User Privacy Notice and in the Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab, we may share this data with other eBay Affiliates in order to facilitate transactions and with service providers, including payment processors, credit agencies and bureaus. Although the provision of any other personal data (e.g. address and shipping data) is voluntary, it may be necessary for the use of our Services, such as bidding, purchase and sales data to complete a transaction.

Children's Privacy

Our services are not intended for the use by children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from users who are considered children under applicable national laws. Under our User Agreement, children are not permitted to use our Services.

Staying Signed in

When you sign into your account on our Services, we give you the option to stay signed into your account for a certain amount of time. If you are using a public or shared computer, we encourage you to decline. You or any other user of the computer/browser you signed in on will be able to view and access most parts of your account and take certain specific actions during this signed in period without any further authorization. The specific actions and account activities that you or any other user of this computer/browser may take include:

Bid, buy or make an offer on an item
Check out or add items to your cart
Purchase an item with PayPal using Faster Checkout (if enabled in your account)
View the activity header
View the My eBay page
View or edit the Watchlist or order details
View the profile page
Send member-to-member messages
Conduct after-sale activities, like leaving feedback, canceling orders, requesting returns or submitting claims

If you attempt to change your password or username, update any other account information or attempt other account activity beyond those listed above, you may be required to enter your password.

You can typically end your signed in session by either signing out and/or clearing your cookies. If you have certain browser privacy settings enabled, simply closing your browser may also end your signed in session. If you are using a public or shared computer, you should sign out and/or clear your cookies when you are done using our Services to protect your account and your personal data.

12. Regional and State Privacy Disclosures

For additional regional disclosures for residents of certain U.S. states, including California, please review our State Privacy Disclosures - opens in new window or tab page. For U.S. sellers (including those in California, Nevada, North Dakota, and Vermont), please follow the link to eBay Commerce Inc.'s U.S. Consumer Privacy Notice - opens in new window or tab. For additional disclosures for specific regions or countries, including Brazil, mainland of People's Republic of China, and the United Kingdom, please review our Regional Privacy Disclosures - opens in new window or tab page.

Previous User Privacy Notice

Previous User Privacy Notice (effective March 24, 2023 to April 7, 2024)

1. Scope and updates of this User Privacy Notice

Learn more about section 1

2. Controller

Which eBay Affiliate is responsible for the collection and processing of your personal data in connection with the provision of the Services depends on how you use our Services.

2.1 Use of the Services (except payment services for sellers)

USA: eBay Inc., 2025 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125, USA
Canada: eBay Canada Limited, 240 Richmond Street West, 2nd Floor Suite 02-100 Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1V6, Canada
EU: eBay GmbH, Albert-Einstein-Ring 2-6, 14532 Kleinmachnow, Germany
United Kingdom: eBay (UK) Limited, 1 More London Place, London, SE1 2AF, United Kingdom
India: eBay Singapore Services Private Limited, 10 Collyer Quay, #10-01 Ocean Financial Centre, Singapore 049315
For all other countries: eBay Marketplaces GmbH, Helvetiastrasse 15/17, 3005 Bern, Switzerland

2.2 Use of the payment services for sellers

USA: eBay Commerce Inc., 2065 Hamilton Ave., San Jose, CA 95125, USA
EEA/CH: eBay S.à r.l., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg
UK: eBay Commerce UK Ltd., 1 More London Place, London SE1 2AF, United Kingdom
Canada: eBay Commerce Canada Limited, 44 Chipman Hill, Suite 1000, Saint John NB E2L 2A9, Canada
Australia: eBay Commerce Australia Pty. Ltd., Level 18, 1 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Singapore: eBay Commerce Singapore Private Limited, 1 Raffles Quay, #18-00, Singapore 048583, Singapore
For all other countries: eBay Commerce Inc., 2065 Hamilton Ave., San Jose, CA 95125, USA

3. Data protection officer and contact

Furthermore, if you have any questions or complaints regarding this User Privacy Notice, our global data protection principles (see section 6.1 Data transfers to eBay Affiliates under section 6. International data transfers below) or our handling of personal data, you can contact the eBay Privacy Team or the controller who is responsible for the processing of your personal data at any time (for further information, see section 2. Controller above). This applies regardless of whether we have appointed a data protection officer in your country. You can find all necessary information and contact details - opens in new window or tab in our eBay Privacy Center - opens in new window or tab.

4. What personal data we collect and process

We collect your personal data when you use our Services, create a new eBay account, provide us with information via a web form, add or update information in your eBay account, participate in online community discussions or otherwise interact with us. We also collect personal data from other sources (such as eBay Affiliates, credit agencies or bureaus, and data providers).

Learn more about section 4

In total, we collect the following personal data:

4.1 Personal data you provide when using our Services or creating an eBay account

Data that identifies you, such as your name, address, telephone numbers, email addresses, username or tax identification number that you provide when setting up your eBay account or at a later date.
If you use our Services as a seller, additional identification data, such as, government-issued ID (e.g. social security number), date of birth, tax identification numbers (such as VAT identification number), identification documents and information contained on IDs, selfie photos, and other information (such as bank account number) that you provide when using our payment and other services as a seller.
Data regarding bids, purchases, or sales that you provide in a transaction.
Content that you share with other users through our messaging tools (see Filtering of messages sent via our messaging tools under section 11. Other important information regarding data protection for more information).
Financial information (e.g. credit card and account numbers, transaction details, and form of payment).
Shipping, billing, and other information you provide, as well as information required for customs clearance (such as tax identification numbers or other identification numbers) and relevant shipping information (such as shipment numbers and tracking information) if shipped through one of our programs.
In some cases: age, gender, country of birth, nationality, country of residence, employment status, family status, interests and preferences.
When you submit a report to eBay: Data that identifies you, such as your name and email address, and additional information that you provide with your report.
You may provide us with additional information through a web form or by updating or adding information to your eBay account, by participating in community discussions, member chats, surveys, inquiries, dispute resolution, customer service calls recorded with your consent, or if you contact us for any other reason regarding our Services.
Other data that we are required or entitled by applicable law to collect and process and that we need for your authentication or identification, or for the verification of the data we collect.

4.2 Personal data we collect automatically when you use our Services or create an eBay account

Data that is generated as part of one of your transactions (e.g. as relating to bids, purchases, sales, fees) or that is linked to your eBay account as a result of a transaction in which you are involved, such as transaction amounts, time and location of transactions and form of payment or payout method.
Data that is generated through your other actions when you use our Services and which is linked to your eBay account (e.g. eBay account numbers, your currency preference, when you place items in your shopping cart, place items on the watch list, save sellers, searches or interests, follow users, or seek to use the services of third-party partners for payments or otherwise).
Data regarding all other interactions with our Services, your advertising preferences, and your communications with us.
Location data, including your general location data (e.g. IP address) and, with your permission, the precise location data of your mobile device. Please note that for most mobile devices, you can manage or disable the use of precise location services for all applications in the settings menu of your mobile device.
Certain metadata recording the settings of your camera included in images of items you upload for sale.
Computer and connection information, such as statistics regarding your use of our Services, information on data traffic to and from websites, referral URL, information on advertisements, your IP address, your access times including accessed pages within our Services, your language settings and your weblog information.

4.3 Personal data we collect in connection with the use of cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to collect data in connection with our Services. We collect this data from the devices (including mobile devices) that you use our Services with. The data collected includes the following usage- and device-related information:

Data about the pages you visit, the access time, frequency and duration of visits, the links on which you click and other actions you take as part of your use of our Services and in advertising and email content.
Data about your activities and interactions with our advertising partners including data about the advertisements you were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action, such as clicking on an advertisement or making a purchase.
The user segment or category into which you as a user fall, for example: female, 20-49 years old, interested in sneakers.
Model or device type, operating system and version, browser type and settings, device ID or individual device identifier, advertisement ID, individual device token, and cookie-related data (e.g. cookie ID).
The IP address from which your device accesses our Services.
Location data, including your general location data (e.g. IP address) and, with your permission, the precise location data of your mobile device. Please note that most mobile devices allow you to manage or disable the use of precise location services for all applications in the settings menu.

For more information about our use of these technologies and your choices, see section 9. Cookies & similar technologies.

4.4 Personal data from other sources

We also collect personal data about you from other sources and from third parties to the extent permitted by applicable law. In particular, this includes the following data:

Data from public sources (e.g. public sanctions lists).
Data from credit agencies or bureaus (e.g. credit reports/checks, identity confirmation, data for risk modeling and setting of credit limits).
Data from data providers (e.g. "Know Your Customer"/identity verification, demographic, interest-based and online advertising related data).
With regard to our payment services for sellers: data from government or other sources concerning any previous convictions of the respective seller, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

4.5 Social network data you share with us

We allow you to use providers of single sign-on services (such as Google, Facebook, or Apple) with whom you already have an account to create an eBay account or to link your eBay account to such single sign-on services. You can determine the personal data that we can access when authorizing the connection with the single sign-on service.
We allow you to share personal data with social networks (such as Facebook) or to link your eBay account to a social network. These social networks may automatically provide us with access to certain personal data they have stored about you (e.g. content you have viewed or enjoyed, information about the advertisements you have been shown or clicked on, etc.). You can determine the personal data that we can access through the privacy settings of each social network.
We may also use plug-ins or other technologies from various social networks. If you click on a link displayed through a social network plug-in, you voluntarily connect to that social network.

5. Purposes and legal basis for data processing and categories of recipients

Learn more about section 5

5.1 We process your personal data in order to fulfill our contract with you and to provide you with our Services. This includes the following purposes:

Processing of data relating to you or your company for the purpose of entering into a contract with you and executing it.
Provision of our Services, including but not limited to enabling and performing transactions with other users (including the transmission of your personal data to other users where necessary to perform the transaction, including in cases of terminated, failed or subsequently voided transactions, e.g. by sharing your return address so a buyer may return an item), displaying your transaction and feedback history to you, providing and enhancing features such as payment processing, ratings, authentication services and eBay account management, providing other services you may use (as described in connection with such services), and ensuring the functionality of our Services. In connection with the provision of our Services, we will send you notifications relating to the execution of transactions and the use of our Services in accordance with the communication preferences in your eBay account.
Enabling the delivery of purchased items by logistics/shipping service providers including notifications in connection with the delivery (such as tracking information), the latter to the extent permitted by applicable law without your consent.
Provision of our payment services in accordance with the Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab.
Providing general customer support including the solution of problems with your eBay account, arbitration of disputes, providing other services within the scope of customer service as well as enforcement of fee claims. For these purposes, we may contact you via notification in My eBay, email, telephone, SMS, push notification on your mobile device or by mail. If we contact you by telephone, in order to ensure efficiency, we may use automatically dialed calls with tape announcements or automated text messages in accordance with our User Agreement and Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
Processing of general location data (such as IP address or postal code) in order to provide you with location-based services (such as radius search and other content that is personalized on the basis of your general location data).
Enforcement of our User Agreement, Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab, this User Privacy Notice and other rules and policies.
Publication and promotion of your listings and related content on the websites or in the applications, services and tools of eBay Affiliates or cooperating third-party operators of websites, applications, services and tools. When we share the content of your listings and any related personal data with third parties, we do so only on the basis of an agreement that limits the use of such personal data by the third party to the purposes necessary to fulfill its contractual obligations to us. Third-party providers are contractually obliged to take appropriate security measures with regard to this data. Third-party providers are strictly forbidden to pass on personal data contained in your listings to other third parties. In case of data transmissions to eBay Affiliates, such restrictions result from our Binding Corporate Rules (see section 6.1 Data transfers to eBay Affiliates under section 6. International data transfers below).

Where necessary, we transmit your personal data to processors and the following recipients for one or several of the purposes described above:

Other eBay users
eBay Affiliates
External service providers, authentication partners, physical storage service partners, and shipping companies (such as DHL, UPS, etc.)
Government agencies or public authorities (including customs and tax authorities)
Payment service providers
External operators of websites, applications, services and tools

5.2 We process your personal data in order to comply with legal obligations to which we are subject. This includes the following purposes:

Participation in investigations and proceedings (including judicial proceedings) conducted by public authorities or government agencies, in particular, for the purpose of detecting, investigating and prosecuting illegal acts.
Prevention, detection and mitigation (including compliance with reporting requirements) of illegal activities (e.g. fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, child abuse and violations of sanctions legislation).
Complying with information requests from third parties based on any statutory information rights they have against us (e.g. in the event of an intellectual property infringement, product piracy, or other unlawful activity).
Complying with information collection, verification, disclosure and reporting requirements under consumer protection, anti-fraud, online platform and tax legislation.
Complying with data access requirements under payment services legislation (e.g. under the EU Payment Services Directive) as a provider of payment services).
Ensuring the security of our Services.
Retention and storage of your personal data to comply with specific legal retention requirements (for more information on eBay's storage of your data, see section 7. Storage duration and erasure).

Where necessary, we transmit your personal data to processors and the following recipients for one or several of the purposes described above:

Law enforcement agencies, courts, government agencies or public authorities (including tax and financial authorities), intergovernmental or supranational bodies (in connection with our payment services provided in the EU for sellers in particular with regard to compliance with Luxembourg laws concerning FATCA dated July 7, 2015 and concerning the OECD Common Reporting Standard dated December 18, 2015).
Third parties based on statutory information claims against us, including participants in the eBay VeRO program - opens in new window or tab and the PROACT program.
Third-party service providers.
Other third-party service providers you select to access your data under payment services legislation and as authorized in each case by you.
Third parties who are involved in judicial proceedings, in particular, if they submit a legal order, court order or equivalent legal order to us.
Credit agencies, bureaus, or associations, if required by applicable law (e.g. information on payment delays, payment defaults or other irregularities that may be relevant to your credit report).
eBay Affiliates.

5.3 We process your personal data in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. This includes the following purposes:

Prevention, detection, mitigation and investigation of unlawful activities that may result in impairment of your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person, unless there is a statutory obligation to this effect.

Where necessary, we transmit your personal data to processors and the following recipients for one or several of the purposes described above:

Law enforcement agencies, courts, government agencies or public authorities, intergovernmental or supranational bodies
Third parties who are involved in judicial proceedings
eBay Affiliates
External service providers

5.4 We process your personal data where necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms. In order to reconcile our legitimate interests with your rights, we have introduced appropriate control mechanisms. On this basis, we process your data for the following purposes:

Participation in investigations and proceedings (including judicial proceedings) conducted by courts, law enforcement agencies, government agencies or public authorities, intergovernmental or supranational bodies, in particular for the purpose of detecting, investigating and prosecuting illegal acts, unless there is a statutory obligation to this effect, and we may legitimately assume that the disclosure of the data is necessary to avert imminent disadvantages or to report a suspicion of an illegal act. In such cases, we will only disclose what we believe is necessary, and to the extent permitted by applicable laws, such as your name, city, zip code, telephone number, email address, (previous) usernames, IP address, fraud complaints, bidding and listing history.
Protection of the legitimate interests of third parties (including participants of the VeRO program - opens in new window or tab and the PROACT program) in connection with civil law disputes, including the investigation of such disputes, unless there is a statutory obligation to this effect, if we may legitimately assume that it is necessary to disclose the data to such third parties in order to avert imminent disadvantages. In such cases, we will only disclose what we believe is necessary, and to the extent permitted by applicable laws, such as the seller's name, address, city, zip code, country, telephone number, email address and company name to the third party and bind the third party by a worldwide non-disclosure agreement to treat the data as confidential.
Prevention, detection, mitigation and investigation of fraud, financial crimes and harms, violation of international sanctions legislation, security incidents and other prohibited or unlawful activities, including the assessment of corresponding risks (e.g. through the use of captchas, a port enumeration technology to identify user sessions using remote desktop tools, metadata or the telephone number stored in your eBay account for risk assessments and two-factor authentication) and the implementation of corresponding measures (e.g. disabling certain forms of payment based upon the risk associated with the underlying transaction), unless there is a statutory obligation to this effect.
Verifying that reports submitted to eBay (incl. unnamed reports) are not fraudulent or malicious.
Monitoring and improvement of the security of our Services, unless there is a statutory obligation to this effect.
Performance of identity checks, creditworthiness and other financial standing checks, evaluation of applications and comparison of information for accuracy and verification purposes.
Automatic filtering and, where necessary, manual review of messages sent through our messaging tools (including chat messages and emails sent to eBay alias email addresses) to prevent fraudulent or suspicious activity or violations of our User Agreement or other rules and policies, including enforcing the prohibition of purchases and sales outside of eBay, as further explained below under Filtering of messages sent via our messaging tools (see section 11. Other important information regarding data protection).
Provision of functions for users that make the processing of transactions easier or more convenient (e.g. administration of several delivery addresses).
Analysis and improvement of the Services from eBay Affiliates, e.g. by reviewing site usage data or information from users about blocked or crashed pages in order to identify and solve problems and to provide you with an improved user experience, including as part of product development.
Analysis of telephone conversations with our customer service that we recorded with your consent.
Advertisements by mail (according to your communication preferences in your eBay account).
To the extent permitted by applicable law without your consent, communications with you via electronic mail (e.g. email or text message) or telephone to offer you vouchers, discounts and special offers, to conduct opinion polls and surveys, and to inform you about our Services (according to your communication preferences in your eBay account). If you no longer wish to receive marketing emails from us, you can also unsubscribe by clicking on the link in the footer of the email you received. For technical reasons, the implementation may take a few days.
For users outside the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland and the United Kingdom: Advertising and content personalization, measurement and analytics, on and off our sites, as explained in our Advertising and related preferences page - opens in new window or tab.
Customization of page content to display the items and services you may like based on the actions you take.
Evaluation of the quality and success of our email marketing campaigns (e.g. through analysis of opening and click rates).
Assessment of the service status (e.g. on the basis of tracking information if sellers use shipping labels from shipping providers via eBay or provide tracking numbers).
Offering or facilitating the offering of partner and bonus programs and other co-branded marketing efforts (e.g. product warranties, seller financing offers or co-branded credit cards in collaboration with a third-party lender, partner, or credit card issuer), to the extent permitted by applicable law.
Provision of shared content and services (such as registration for services, transaction processing and customer service) with eBay Affiliates or cooperating payment service providers.
Initiation, preparation and execution of a company acquisition, e.g. in the event of a merger with another company or takeover by another company. If such an event occurs, we will require the merged entity to comply with this User Privacy Notice with respect to your personal data. Should your personal data be processed for any purpose not specified in this User Privacy Notice, you will be informed in advance of the processing of your data for this new purpose.
Assertion of or defense against legal claims, including those asserted by one eBay user against another eBay user.
Enabling eBay Affiliates to comply with legal obligations they are subject to, including information collection, verification, disclosure and reporting requirements under consumer protection, anti-fraud, online platform and tax legislation.
To comply with an impending legal obligation.
For users in the United States: investigating and communicating the outcome of disputes with the affected users (e.g. sharing information about eBay's investigation of a complaint of a user's violation of a policy with the reporting user).

Where necessary, we transmit your personal data to processors and the following recipients for one or several of the purposes described above:

eBay Affiliates
External service providers
Other eBay users
Law enforcement agencies, courts, government agencies or public authorities, intergovernmental or supranational bodies
Third parties who are involved in judicial proceedings
Participants in the eBay VeRO program - opens in new window or tab, PROACT program, and other third parties in the event of an investigation for fraud, intellectual property infringement, retail crime, stolen goods, product piracy or other unlawful activity
Payment service providers
Third-party partners in furtherance of offering commercial financing opportunities
Credit agencies or bureaus, data verification services, risk assessment vendors and collections agencies (e.g. information about payment delays, payment defaults, or other irregularities that may be relevant to your credit report, or that we use to confirm your identity, model risk, establish credit limits, or collect unpaid debts)
Other companies in the context of a company acquisition

5.5 With your consent, we process your personal data for the following purposes:

For users within the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland and the United Kingdom: Advertising and content personalization, measurement and analytics, on and off our sites, as explained on our Advertising and related preferences page - opens in new window or tab.
Communications with you via electronic mail (such as email or text message) or telephone, including communications by eBay Affiliates or by third parties, to offer you vouchers, discounts and special offers, unless these communications are permitted without your consent under applicable law. We may engage third parties to send marketing communications on our behalf.
Processing of your precise location data to provide location-based services. Please note that most mobile devices allow you to manage or disable the use of precise location services for all applications in the settings menu.
For users within the European Economic Area (EEA): Storing your financial information (e.g. credit card and account numbers) for future transactions.
Provision of a single sign-on service allowing you to register or log into third-party services using your eBay log-in credentials.
For sellers, processing of your biometric data to identify you and further prevent fraud and reduce other risks on our platform, and in connection with Know Your Customer and similar compliance requirements.
Processing of your personal data on the basis of your consent, which you have given so that we or third parties can enable you to use certain services or make them available to you.

Where necessary, we transmit your personal data to processors and the following recipients for one or several of the purposes described above:

eBay Affiliates
External service providers
Third parties using our single sign-on service (as authorized by you in each single case)
Other third parties with whom we partner to offer you specific services (as described at the collection of the respective user consent)
Third-party advertising partners such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, Pinterest, and TikTok, as listed on our Advertising and related preferences page - opens in new window or tab

5.6 Data Sharing between eBay Affiliates

As set out above under "Personal data from other sources", we also receive access to personal data about you from eBay Affiliates. This enables us, in particular, to provide you, with your consent as legally required, with information about products and services, which we believe might interest you, and improve our products, services, content, and advertising by analyzing your use of the services of eBay Affiliates, in particular through the matching of certain data (e.g. cookie IDs). Furthermore, this allows us to better prevent, detect, mitigate and investigate fraud, security incidents and other prohibited or unlawful activities, including the assessment of corresponding risks. We will also grant access to personal data about you to eBay Affiliates for the aforementioned purposes. To the extent that eBay Affiliates have access to your personal data, they will follow practices that are at least as restrictive as the practices described in this User Privacy Notice.

5.7 Additional information regarding our payment services for sellers

Other payment service providers, including financial institutions
Companies offering financial products, analyses and scoring (e.g. credit agencies or bureaus)
Authorities, agencies and other governmental bodies (e.g. to combat fraud)
Auditors and other professional advisors

5.8 Automated decision-making

6. International data transfers

Some recipients of your personal data are located outside your country or have offices in countries where data protection laws may provide a different level of protection than the laws in your country. When transferring personal data to such recipients, we provide appropriate safeguards.

Learn more about section 6

6.1 Data transfers to eBay Affiliates

6.2 Other data transfers (from the European Economic Area to third countries)

We may transfer your personal data to recipients (see section 5. Purposes and legal basis for data processing and categories of recipients) who may be located anywhere in the world. We will only transfer your personal data from the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom or Switzerland to third countries, i.e. countries outside the EEA, on the basis of appropriate safeguards or if otherwise authorized by applicable law. Third countries providing an adequate level of data protection according to the European Commission currently include Andorra, Argentina, Canada (for companies covered by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act), Switzerland (for transfers out of the EEA), the Faroe Islands, Guernsey, the State of Israel, the Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Uruguay. In other cases, eBay provides the necessary safeguards, e.g. through the conclusion of data protection contracts adopted by the European Commission (e.g. standard data protection clauses (2021/914/EU) with the recipients, or through other measures provided for by law. Additional information regarding the measures taken by us is available on request. We regularly re-evaluate the measures taken to assess requirements deriving from new regulatory guidance and case law, e.g. from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decision in the matter C-311/18.

7. Storage duration and erasure

Learn more about section 7

8. Rights as a data subject

Learn more about section 8

Your rights in detail:

Where we rely on consent you can withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data by us at any time. As a result, we may no longer process your personal data based on this consent in the future. The withdrawal of consent has no effect on the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
You have the right to obtain access to your personal data that is being processed by us. In particular, you may request information on the purposes of the processing, the categories of personal data concerned, the categories of recipients to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed, where possible the envisaged period for which the personal data will be stored or the criteria used to determine that period, the existence of the right to request rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing of personal data or to object to such processing, the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, any available information as to the personal data's source (where they are not collected from you), the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling and, where appropriate, meaningful information on its details. Your right to access shall not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others. Your right to access may be limited by national law.
You have the right to obtain from us without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning you. Taking into account the purposes of the processing, you have the right to have incomplete personal data completed, including by means of providing a supplementary statement.
You have the right to obtain from us the erasure of personal data concerning you under certain conditions (e.g. when the personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were processed or when they are no longer required for overriding legitimate grounds, such as the detection/prevention of fraud), unless processing is necessary for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information, for compliance with a legal obligation, for reasons of public interest or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims. The right to erasure may be limited by national law.
You have the right to obtain from us restriction of processing your personal data to the extent that
- the accuracy of the data is disputed by you,
- the processing is unlawful, but you oppose the erasure of the personal data,
- we no longer need the data, but you need it to assert, exercise or defend legal claims or
- you have objected to the processing.
You have the right to receive the personal data concerning you, which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to another controller ("right to data portability").
You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. As a rule, you can contact the supervisory authority of your usual place of residence, your place of work or the registered office of the controller.

Exercising your rights and managing your settings

9. Cookies & similar technologies

Learn more about section 9

Your choices regarding cookies and similar technologies

10. Data security

11. Other important information regarding data protection

This section contains important additional information about the protection of personal data in connection with the use of our Services, including whether you are required to provide personal data.

Learn more about section 11

What happens when you share your personal data on our sites or applications?

When you use our Services, your public user ID may be displayed and available to the public and associated with all of your public eBay activity. Notices sent to other users about suspicious activity and notice violations on our sites may refer to your public user ID and specific items. Accordingly, if you use a username that allows others to identify you, these others may be able to identify your eBay activities.

To help protect your personal data, we allow only limited access to other users' contact, shipping and financial information as necessary to facilitate your transactions and collect payments. However, when users are involved in a transaction, they have access to each other's name, user ID, (alias) email address and other contact and shipping information. For example, we may allow users to exchange telephone numbers in order to contact each other prior to completing a transaction (e.g. a seller may opt to share their telephone number with a buyer so that the buyer may call with questions about a listed item). In this case, sellers are prohibited from using a buyer's telephone number for other purposes (e.g. completing a transaction off eBay or adding the buyer to a marketing list).

Your responsibilities over transactional information you receive through eBay

Personal data relating to third parties

Filtering of messages sent via our messaging tools

Are you obliged to provide your personal data to us?

Some of the personal data that you provide to us (e.g. data by which we can identify you) are required to enter into the User Agreement and the Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab. For example, under the Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab you must provide us with certain identification information including legal name, date of birth, and tax identification number or social security number so that we may fulfill our legal "Know Your Customer" (KYC) obligations. As described in our User Privacy Notice and in the Payments Terms of Use - opens in new window or tab, we may share this data with other eBay Affiliates in order to facilitate transactions and with service providers, including payment processors, credit agencies and bureaus. Although the provision of any other personal data (e.g. address and shipping data) is voluntary, it may be necessary for the use of our Services, such as bidding, purchase and sales data to complete a transaction.

Children's Privacy

Staying Signed in

Bid, buy or make an offer on an item
Check out or add items to your cart
Purchase an item with PayPal using Faster Checkout (if enabled in your account)
View the activity header
View the My eBay page
View or edit the Watch List or order details
View the profile page
Send member-to-member messages
Conduct after-sale activities, like leaving feedback, canceling orders, requesting returns or submitting claims

If you attempt to change your password or user ID, update any other account information or attempt other account activity beyond those listed above, you may be required to enter your password.

12. Regional and State Privacy Disclosures

For additional regional disclosures for residents of certain U.S. states, including California, please review our State Privacy Disclosures - opens in new window or tab page. For U.S. sellers (including those in California, Nevada, North Dakota, and Vermont), please follow the link to eBay Commerce Inc.'s U.S. Consumer Privacy Notice - opens in new window or tab. For additional disclosures for specific regions or countries, including Brazil and mainland of People's Republic of China, please review our Regional Privacy Disclosures - opens in new window or tab page.

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