CartSignal privacy policy
CartSignal is a Shopify app that adds a WhatsApp chat button to a merchant's online store. This policy explains what the app stores, what it reads, and what it never touches. It covers the CartSignal Shopify app only.
In short: the chat button's settings you enter in CartSignal are saved in your own Shopify store, as app data. CartSignal's database keeps your shop's domain, the tokens Shopify issues to the app, your button's on/off state and display options, and a daily count of taps on the button. CartSignal stores no customer data and sets no cookies, and it never knows who taps the button.
What CartSignal stores
The settings you enter on CartSignal's Settings page (your WhatsApp number, pre-filled message, greeting, and the button's position, color, and devices) are saved in your Shopify store as private app data (an app-data metafield). Your theme reads them to show the button. Only CartSignal can read or change them, and Shopify deletes them when you uninstall the app.
When you install CartSignal, Shopify issues the app an access token for your store. CartSignal's own database stores:
- Your shop's myshopify.com domain
- The access token and refresh token Shopify issues to the app (with their scope and expiry), used only to save your settings and to read your published theme's settings
- Your chat button's last known setup state (whether it is turned on and whether a number is set) and its display options (position, distance from the bottom, color, and which devices it shows on), so the app can show your status the moment it opens
- The number of taps on your chat button per day, as plain counts with nothing about who tapped
- Whether you have hidden the setup guide or the note on the Settings page
That is everything. CartSignal's database does not keep your WhatsApp number, your messages, or the names, email addresses, or any other personal information of you, your staff, or your customers.
What CartSignal reads but does not store
To show whether the chat button is turned on, CartSignal reads your published theme's settings file (config/settings_data.json) using the read_themes permission. If that file can't be read, CartSignal may load your store's public homepage to check whether the button is present. Neither is stored or shared. If you set up the button in the theme editor with an earlier version of CartSignal, those settings are copied once into the app data described above.
Shopify also sends CartSignal notifications about your shop, for example when the app is uninstalled or your shop's details change. CartSignal uses them only to keep the data above current or to delete it, and doesn't store their contents.
Your storefront and your customers
The chat button is a link to WhatsApp (wa.me) with your number and an optional pre-filled message. It loads nothing from CartSignal or anyone else when a page opens, sets no cookies, and uses no browser storage.
When a customer taps the button, and only if they allow analytics in your store's privacy settings (Shopify's Customer Privacy API), the button sends one count to CartSignal through your store's own address (Shopify's app proxy). The count carries no information about the customer. Shopify may add a customer ID to requests from logged-in customers; CartSignal ignores it and doesn't store it. CartSignal never knows who taps the button or what they write.
When a customer taps the button, WhatsApp opens and the conversation takes place in WhatsApp, between you and your customer. WhatsApp's own privacy policy applies to that conversation.
Data minimization and staff access
CartSignal requests one permission, read_themes (saving its own app data needs no extra permission), and collects only the data listed above. It uses no third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking tools in the app or on your storefront; its only measurement is the daily tap count described above.
Access to CartSignal's database is limited to the people who operate the app and is used only to keep it running and to answer support requests. CartSignal staff do not access your Shopify admin unless you invite us as a collaborator for support, and that access ends when you remove it.
Where data is kept and who processes it
CartSignal runs on Fly.io servers in the United States (New Jersey), on encrypted storage. Shopify provides the platform the app runs in. We don't sell, rent, or share your data with anyone else.
Retention and deletion
When you uninstall CartSignal, Shopify notifies the app and CartSignal immediately deletes everything it stores about your shop, including tap counts. Shopify also removes the chat button from your theme and deletes the app data that holds its settings. Shopify's shop data erasure request, sent 48 hours after uninstalling, deletes anything that remains.
Because CartSignal stores no customer data, there is nothing to export or erase for customer data requests; CartSignal still acknowledges Shopify's customer data request and erasure webhooks.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, or delete your data, and to object to or restrict its processing. To make a request, email menolab3@gmail.com. You can delete all CartSignal data at any time by uninstalling the app.
Changes to this policy
If CartSignal's data practices change, we will update this page and the date above before the change takes effect.
Contact
CartSignal, Attn: Privacy
900 Lanark Dr, Wasilla, Alaska 99654, United States
Email: menolab3@gmail.com