eBay Expands Automated Monitoring, AI Training Disclosures In Global Privacy Policy Update
eBay is updating its privacy policy globally on November 26, 2026, adding more detailed disclosures about automated monitoring of listings and other user content, AI training on customer data, and automated decisions that could affect seller accounts.
The company announced the changes in an email to users October 19, describing the update as an effort to make its data collection and privacy practices easier to understand, with emphasis on eBay Live, artificial intelligence and how personal information is shared with affiliates and third-party service providers.
Similar revisions have been published for the UK, Australia and Canada, all taking effect on the same date. While most of the language is consistent across markets, the Australian version includes additional details about automated account restrictions and financial controls.
A comparison of the current and upcoming US policies also reveals changes not highlighted in the announcement, including new language allowing eBay to limit information provided about its enforcement systems and the removal of an explicit commitment to notify users directly about future material privacy policy changes.
Disclaimer: comparisons are made using both automated and manual methods and are provided for informational purposes only - no warranty of completeness or accuracy is expressed or implied and users are advised to do their own due diligence.
Automated Monitoring & Enforcement
The current policy primarily describes automated filtering of messages sent through eBay's communication tools to detect fraud, prohibited transactions and other potential policy violations, with human review where appropriate.
The November update goes further, explicitly including listings, images, videos, livestream content, comments, transcripts, captions, reports and other user-generated content among the information that may be automatically reviewed.
We use automated systems and, where appropriate, human review to detect, prevent, and address content and behavior that may violate our User Agreement, policies, or applicable law.
This may also apply to messages, listings, images, videos, livestreams, comments, reactions, transcripts, captions, reports, and other user-generated content shared through our Services.
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, remove or restrict access to other content, restrict the purchase and sales functions of your eBay account, block your eBay account, or otherwise enforce our policies.
A new provision also reserves eBay's right to limit how much information it provides about the systems used to detect and enforce policy violations.
To protect our users, our Services, and our legitimate business interests, we may limit the level of detail we provide about our detection, moderation, and enforcement systems, including where disclosure could enable circumvention, undermine the effectiveness of our safeguards, or expose trade secrets or security-sensitive information.
The additional language doesn't necessarily mean eBay is introducing new automated enforcement tools in November. It could simply provide more detailed disclosure of systems already in use.
Earlier this year, Germany's Federal Network Agency identified potential Digital Services Act violations involving eBay's handling of illegal-content reports, explanations for enforcement decisions and trader verification requirements. Those concerns included whether users received sufficiently detailed explanations to understand why content had been removed or accounts restricted and to exercise their appeal rights.
Liz Morton
The new privacy language does not necessarily conflict with those requirements, since protecting the details of detection systems is different from explaining individual enforcement decisions. But it raises questions about how much information eBay will provide to sellers challenging automated enforcement actions.
AI Training & Customer Data
The new privacy policy distinguishes between personal information used to operate AI-powered features and data used to train, test and improve AI models.
Under the new language, eBay says it relies primarily on publicly available information to train generative AI models, but may also use personal data from users' activity on the marketplace when it determines that doing so is necessary and proportionate for a specific purpose.
Some public datasets may incidentally include personal data, and in some cases we may also use certain user personal data, such as information about your use of our Services, including the items you list, sell, view, or buy, where we determine it is necessary and proportionate for a specific use.
A separate Artificial Intelligence at eBay help page provides more detail, identifying several categories of information that may be used to train or improve generative AI models.
For seller tools, that includes previous listings, product descriptions, images, item attributes, marketplace activity and seller feedback, which eBay says may be used to improve listing creation, categorization, image enhancement and related features.
For shopping recommendations and discovery, the company identifies information about items viewed, purchase history and feedback on sellers and products. AI training for customer support may also involve content extracted from support requests, customer service interactions, transaction or listing details, case outcomes and customer feedback.
eBay says it applies privacy-preserving measures such as de-identification or other technical safeguards before using this information for model training, and that special-category information such as health or biometric data is not used to train generative AI models.
Using customer data to train AI is not new. eBay's April 2025 privacy update explicitly disclosed that personal data collected from users could be used to train its own and third-party AI models, raising concerns from Germany's Brandenburg data protection regulator about whether the company had provided sufficient information about its plans.
Liz Morton
The new policy no longer explicitly references using personal data to train third-party AI models or promises to inform users when they are interacting directly with an AI system.
AI Opt-Out Rights Remain Unclear For US Users
eBay also maintains an AI training opt-out page, but the setting continues to be described as intended for users in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom and Switzerland, despite being accessible through the US website.
The company says eligible users who object will have their personal data excluded from future generative AI training, although the company may continue processing that information for other purposes such as fraud prevention, safety, security and legal compliance. The setting does not prevent information from being processed when using AI-powered features or promise to reverse training that has already occurred.
The availability of the opt-out setting for US accounts was already unclear when eBay introduced its AI training disclosures in 2025. The company did not respond to a request for clarification at that time, and the new privacy disclosures still do not address whether US users can effectively opt out.
Automated Decisions Affecting Seller Accounts
The November update also revises eBay's provisions concerning automated decision-making, including decisions that could have legal or similarly significant consequences for users.
The current policy says eBay will not make such decisions without consent unless they are necessary for entering into or performing a contract, or required by applicable law.
In the new version, that last exception is expanded to include automated decisions that are "required or otherwise permitted by applicable law," while adding language about providing applicable notices, rights and safeguards.
That change does not establish that eBay is introducing new automated decisions affecting sellers, but Australia's updated policy adds a more explicit description of the potential consequences that was not included in its previous notice or the corresponding US, UK and Canadian versions.
Automated processing or profiling could result in decisions to suspend, terminate or restrict accounts, apply financial or credit controls, or to offer particular products or services.
The policy does not identify which automated systems may be used for those decisions or whether the new language reflects any changes to existing enforcement or payment practices.
eBay Live, Identity Verification & Other Changes
The updated policy also addresses personal information collected through eBay Live and other interactive features, including usernames, listings, comments, reactions, messages, images, device information and metadata generated through participation in livestreams.
eBay says livestreams may be recorded and made available for replay, potentially including comments or other information participants shared during the original broadcast.
Another revision broadens the language concerning biometric verification. Where the previous policy specifically referenced using biometric information to identify sellers and meet verification requirements, the new version refers more generally to identity verification and age verification, without limiting the provision to sellers.
There are additional disclosures about displaying seller contact information when legally required, collecting and using location information, and sharing data with advertising partners and other third parties.
Most of those activities were already covered more generally by the previous policy, so the revised language should not necessarily be interpreted as announcing new verification requirements or additional public disclosure of seller information.
Future Privacy Policy Notifications
The November update also removes an explicit commitment to notify users directly when eBay makes material changes to its privacy policy.
The current notice explicitly states:
As a registered user, you will be notified of any material changes to this User Privacy Notice via My Messages in My eBay and/or by email.
That provision has been removed from the November update, which instead says only:
We may change this User Privacy Notice at any time by posting the revised User Privacy Notice on this website and indicating its effective date.
eBay did send users an email announcing this update, so the change does not necessarily mean the company will stop providing direct notifications. But the new policy no longer explicitly promises to notify registered users of material changes in the future, beyond any requirements imposed by applicable law.
Value Added Resource has asked eBay whether the expanded disclosures reflect changes to its actual AI training and automated enforcement practices, why the commitment to direct notification of material privacy changes was removed, and whether US users can effectively opt out of AI training. The company has not responded as of publishing.
