Apple is rolling out a Virtual Shopping Assistant to the Apple Store app that will collect user account information, device identifiers, and chat data to help personalize shopping recommendations. While users can choose whether to let Apple use their chats to improve the assistant, the feature is not yet live, and the data collection itself cannot be fully avoided.
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Apple is adding a "Virtual Shopping Assistant" to the Apple Store app, as revealed by a privacy policy update. The bot will collect account information, device identifiers, carrier information, chat data, and optional location data to personalize responses and help with shopping decisions.
Why it matters
The feature lets Apple gather detailed shopping behavior and preferences through the AI assistant's conversations. Users can opt in or out of letting Apple use their chats to improve the assistant, a choice made in Account > Settings > Chat Improvements within the app—though opting out of data collection entirely does not appear to be an option.
What to watch
The virtual assistant is not yet live in the Apple Store app. Apple has previously added an AI bot to the Apple Support app, though that feature also remained unavailable to all users.
Apple is preparing to introduce a Virtual Shopping Assistant to its Apple Store app, a development discovered through updates to the app's privacy policy. According to the privacy documentation, the assistant will collect and store account information, device identifiers, carrier information, chat information, and—when enabled—location data. This data will be used to personalize the chat experience and provide relevant responses. Apple has stated that personal identifiers are removed from chats before sharing information with partners, and that data is used solely to improve the quality of conversational responses. Users have some control over data use: while the privacy policy does not explicitly state that data collection can be fully disabled, users can choose to opt in or out of allowing Apple to use their chats to improve the virtual shopping assistant. This setting is located in the Apple Store app under Account > Settings, where users can toggle Chat Improvements on or off. The Virtual Shopping Assistant is not currently live in the Apple Store app, indicating the feature is still under development or staged rollout. This addition follows Apple's earlier deployment of an AI bot in the Apple Support app, which similarly remains unavailable to all users, suggesting a phased approach to rolling out conversational AI across Apple's service ecosystem.
Apple's addition of an AI shopping assistant to the Apple Store app marks an expansion of the company's use of conversational AI across its suite of applications. The privacy policy update reveals the breadth of data the assistant will access: not only chat records but also carrier information and optional location data, all aimed at personalizing the shopping experience. This mirrors Apple's earlier introduction of an AI bot in the Apple Support app, signaling a broader strategy to embed AI helpers into customer-facing services. The opt-in mechanism for chat improvements—accessible through Account Settings—gives users some granular control, though the core data collection appears mandatory for the feature to function. The fact that the assistant is not yet live suggests Apple is still finalizing the feature before wider rollout.
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