Goals and Outcomes
When a customer asks you to delete their personal data (i.e., exercise their data subject rights), you can anonymize them yourself from your Yotpo account. This removes their personal details from Yotpo Reviews and Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals across all stores in your account, without the need to contact Support.
In this article, you'll learn what anonymization changes, who can submit a request, and how to anonymize one or more customers.
What Anonymization Does
Anonymization permanently removes a customer's personal data, so their reviews and loyalty activity can no longer be linked to their identity. Some content and activity records remain available in an anonymized form.
Anonymization applies to all stores in your Yotpo account and is irreversible. The changes depend on the product and data type, as described below.
Reviews
Data | What happens |
|---|---|
Reviewer name | Replaced with "Anonymous". The review remains published. |
Review photos and videos | Deleted. |
Questions and answers | Asker and answerer names are replaced with "Anonymous". The content stays published. |
Review votes | Kept, but no longer linked to the customer. |
Reviewer IP address | Deleted. |
Customer profile (email, name, bio, phone, IP addresses, social profile image) | Cleared. |
Guest reviewer email and display name | Masked. |
Review request emails | Unsent emails are canceled. Emails already sent have the email address and name masked. |
Visual Curation gallery content | Anonymized (if Visual Curation is enabled). |
Google Shopping feed | The customer's reviews are removed from the feed. |
Orders
Data | What happens |
|---|---|
Customer email | Replaced with a pseudonym. |
First and last name | Replaced with "Private User". |
Phone number | Removed. |
Billing and shipping address (including company, city, ZIP code, and phone number) | Removed. |
Loyalty & Referrals
Data | What happens |
|---|---|
Customer email | Replaced with a pseudonym. |
Customer name | Replaced with "Anonymous". |
Phone number and store account ID | Removed. |
Purchase email | Replaced with a pseudonym. |
Billing and shipping names on purchases | Replaced with "Anonymous". |
Billing and shipping address, phone, zip code, city, and country on purchases | Removed. |
Emails on loyalty activity, referrals, and referral receipts | Replaced with a pseudonym. |
Points, tiers, and activity history | Kept and linked to the anonymized profile. |
Klaviyo integration: If your Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals account is connected to Klaviyo, Yotpo sends Klaviyo a request to delete the customer's profile. Other connected email or marketing tools aren't updated automatically. Submit a separate deletion request to each relevant tool.
Note
Once completed, anonymization is permanent and can't be undone.
Account-wide anonymization vs. Loyalty profile anonymization
Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals also offers an option to anonymize an individual customer's loyalty profile. The Customers Anonymization page is a separate, account-wide feature.
Use the Customers Anonymization page when you need to process a customer data deletion request across Yotpo Reviews and Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals, or when you need to submit requests for multiple customers at once. You can include up to 100 email addresses in a single request.
The Loyalty profile-level option is limited to anonymizing a customer's loyalty profile. It isn't a substitute for the account-wide process.
Who Can Use It
Users with the Owner, Admin, Staff, Manager, or Customer Service role can anonymize customers. Users with the Analyst and Insights Only role can't access the page. Learn more about Roles & Permissions in Yotpo.
If you don't see Customers Anonymization in your Account settings, ask a user with one of these roles to submit the request.
How to Anonymize Customers
In Yotpo, go to Account settings > Customers Anonymization, or open app.yotpo.com/anonymization.
In the text box, paste the email addresses of the customers you want to anonymize, one per line. You can add up to 100 addresses per request. Don't add commas or other punctuation.
Click Permanently anonymize.
Review the confirmation window, then click Anonymize customers to submit the request.
Tip
To anonymize more than 100 customers, split the list and submit several requests.
After You Submit
Request received email: Right away, you'll get an email confirming we've received your request. It includes the number of email addresses submitted and a Request ID. Keep it as a record of the request.
Timing: Anonymization is completed within 7 days. It doesn't happen immediately.
Addresses not found: Email addresses that don't exist in Yotpo are skipped.
Activity Log: Each request is recorded in your Activity Log as Anonymize Customers, with who submitted it, when, and how many customers were included. Customer email addresses aren't shown in the log.
FAQ
Is anonymization the same as deleting the customer?
All of the customer's personal data is removed, so their content can no longer be linked to them. Their reviews stay published under an anonymous name, and their loyalty activity is kept under an anonymous profile.
Can I anonymize customers by phone number or customer ID?
No. The page accepts email addresses only.
How do I know the anonymization is complete?
Anonymization is completed within 7 days of your request. The confirmation email and Activity Log record the request submission, but they don't necessarily confirm that processing is complete.
What if I entered the wrong email address?
Contact Yotpo Support as soon as possible and include your Request ID. Once anonymization is completed, it can't be undone.
Does this cover all my stores?
Yes. Anonymization applies to all stores in your Yotpo account, in both Reviews and Loyalty & Referrals.
I'm using Shopify. Do I still need to use this page?
Shopify customer data erasure requests are automatically processed by Yotpo when received from Shopify. However, anonymization requests submitted directly in Yotpo aren't sent to Shopify. If you receive a deletion request outside Shopify, make sure to handle it in Shopify separately, if applicable.