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Restricting Profile Creation in Klaviyo to Newsletter Subscribers Only


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  • Contributor I
  • 2 replies

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing an issue with automatic profile creation in Klaviyo and hope someone here can help or provide some guidance.

Current Situation:
In my Shopify store, a profile is automatically created in Klaviyo for every user who starts the checkout process. This happens regardless of whether the customer has given their consent for marketing tracking or actively subscribed to the newsletter.

Problem:
This automatic profile creation leads to a large number of profiles in Klaviyo that are not actual newsletter subscribers. This not only affects data quality but also raises concerns about data privacy compliance (e.g., under GDPR), as personal data is processed without explicit consent.

Questions:

  1. How can I ensure that Klaviyo only creates profiles for users who actively subscribe to the newsletter via a Klaviyo form or the internal Shopify form?
  2. Are there settings in Klaviyo or Shopify to prevent the automatic transfer of checkout data?
  3. Is it possible to control this behavior via the Klaviyo API connector or Shopify customizations?

I’d appreciate any advice or experiences you might have in addressing this issue. Thank you in advance!

Best regards,
Jens

Best answer by Byrne C

Hi ​@Jens 

Did you get this question fully answered yet?

If not, I wanted to let you know that if you have the Shopify integration, there isn’t currently a way to prevent people who provide their email at checkout, but don’t subscribe, from becoming a profile in Klaviyo.

That being said, you’re able to avoid sending emails to those people entirely, as long as you:

  • Include this profile filter on every flow: “Person can receive email marketing because person subscribed.”
  • And add this definition on every segment you plan on sending a campaign to: “Person can receive email marketing because person subscribed.”

This will effectively ensure your flows and campaigns aren’t able to send to non-subscribers, so you won’t need to worry about marketing to people who haven’t given you explicit marketing consent.

Hope this helps! Let me know if I can answer any additional questions.

-Byrne

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5 replies

Amos Peace
Problem Solver III
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  • Problem Solver III
  • 46 replies
  • January 16, 2025

Hello Jens,

You can give these steps a trial:

 

  • In Shopify, disable "Collect email subscribers at checkout" under "Settings > Checkout" to prevent sending data for non-consenting users.
  • In Klaviyo’s Shopify integration settings, ensure you’re only syncing profiles with marketing consent.
  • Uncheck any data sync options for abandoned checkouts if not needed.
  • Use Klaviyo's segmentation to isolate profiles with marketing consent or newsletter sign-ups. Ignore profiles created only via checkout.
  • Customize Shopify's integration using Klaviyo's API to pass only opted-in customer data.

By implementing these steps, you can prevent unnecessary profiles, improve data quality, and ensure compliance with data privacy regulations.

 

I hope this will help you sole the issues if you need further assistance you can reach out.

 

Best Regards,

Peace.

+23423453575


Timmy Solomon
Problem Solver III
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  • Problem Solver III
  • 19 replies
  • January 16, 2025

Hello Jens,

Thank you for bringing up this important question regarding profile creation and consent in Klaviyo. Here’s how you can address your concerns:

1. Restrict Profile Creation to Newsletter Subscribers Only

Klaviyo creates profiles for all customers who interact with your Shopify store by default. To limit profile creation to only newsletter subscribers:

  • Use Klaviyo Forms: Ensure subscribers opt in through Klaviyo's embedded or pop-up forms. Profiles will only be created when someone fills out these forms.
  • Modify Shopify's Marketing Settings: In your Shopify admin, make sure you enable the double opt-in option for email marketing to ensure only consenting subscribers are added.

2. Prevent Automatic Transfer of Checkout Data

Unfortunately, Shopify's integration with Klaviyo sends checkout data automatically. To mitigate this:

  • Customize Shopify-Klaviyo Sync Settings:
    • In Klaviyo, navigate to Integrations > Shopify and adjust the settings to limit what data is synced, such as excluding abandoned checkouts.
  • Disable Web Tracking for Non-Subscribers: If you’re using Klaviyo's onsite tracking, limit it to newsletter subscribers by adding conditional logic to the tracking code.

3. Control Behavior via Klaviyo API or Shopify Customization

If the above solutions don’t fully meet your needs, consider:

  • Using the Klaviyo API to manually manage profile creation. For example, only call the API to create profiles when someone subscribes via your preferred forms.
  • Customizing Shopify with a developer’s help to restrict what data is sent to Klaviyo.

By implementing these strategies, you can improve data quality and ensure compliance with GDPR and similar regulations.

Let me know if you’d like further clarification or help setting this up!

Best regards,
Timmy Solomon
Klaviyo Expert

 

 

 

 


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  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • 2 replies
  • January 16, 2025

Hi and thank you for your ansers

This is what the support wrote to me:

“I'm happy to address your question regarding the "Started Checkout" event and data privacy compliance.You are correct that personal data should not be processed without explicit consent. However, I want to clarify that the "Started Checkout" event you're describing is indeed transmitted from Shopify directly through the Shopify integration, this happen as Shopify gathers the information of the purchase.”

 


Byrne C
Community Manager
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  • Community Manager
  • 56 replies
  • Answer
  • January 23, 2025

Hi ​@Jens 

Did you get this question fully answered yet?

If not, I wanted to let you know that if you have the Shopify integration, there isn’t currently a way to prevent people who provide their email at checkout, but don’t subscribe, from becoming a profile in Klaviyo.

That being said, you’re able to avoid sending emails to those people entirely, as long as you:

  • Include this profile filter on every flow: “Person can receive email marketing because person subscribed.”
  • And add this definition on every segment you plan on sending a campaign to: “Person can receive email marketing because person subscribed.”

This will effectively ensure your flows and campaigns aren’t able to send to non-subscribers, so you won’t need to worry about marketing to people who haven’t given you explicit marketing consent.

Hope this helps! Let me know if I can answer any additional questions.

-Byrne


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  • Author
  • Contributor I
  • 2 replies
  • January 30, 2025

Thank you all for your answers!

We initially had concerns regarding GDPR, but this has now been clarified. Since customers agree to the privacy policy during the checkout process, the creation of a profile in Klaviyo is legally covered in our case.