Protecting shoppers privacy on Etsy

[Fronne]

Hi,

I just received an email titled "An update on third-party API access" from Etsy Sellers with the message below.

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[This content has been removed by Moderation. We ask that you please review Section 1, Item 2 of our Community Policies before posting in the Forums.]

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Please Note: eRank is listed on Etsy's Integrations, so I don't understand this email for several obvious reasons, can you please clarify?
Some questions:

• Are you telling eRank might sell email addresses from our customers to third parties?
• Do we still get the email addresses in the Orders & Shipping section?
• Why don't you just block the email access from the API?
• What happens when I quit my eRank subscription?

Every seller might need the email address from a customer for direct contact, this is very important for every seller!
Please clarify, and answer all our questions.

Thanks in advance!
Frank & Yvonne - AKA Fronne
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Fronne

[JDTotesnDolls]

You will still get the emails on orders. That is part of Etsy.

As to the rest yes it is possible that with current privacy laws that sharing email information conflicts so Etsy made a decison.

Personally I am not fond of erank.  They don't have as much information from Etsy to truly make informed ideas about what is happening on Etsy.

[Fronne]

Thank you for the fast reply!

That make sense, privacy is very important to us!

<off topic>
Do you have a better solution than eRank? What about Marmalead?
</off topic>

[Marmalady]

If erank have access to your customer's email through whatever integration there is and you have not told your customers that you share their email address with eRank, you are contravening the EU GDPR Privacy regulations.

Etsy is obviously tightening up procedures to ensure compliance

[dippeldiundscribble]

For the same reason, you cannot collect e-mail addresses for a newsletter without the buyer's consent.

I don't understand why Erank needs the e-mail addresses of buyers…

[ReginaldSpleen]

I'm surprised customers e-mails were available in the API anyway, I can only think it was an oversight.

ERank is really only any good for spelling and for helping to come up with synonyms when crafting keywords. 

[MichelleArtStudioCo]

I received it also just like you. I’m confused myself. I don’t understand what Erank has to do with emails.

[MichelleArtStudioCo]

Okay now I understand. I’m reading replies. 

[AlexandHerDigitalArt]

I received this, but it also includes the editable template integrations. The template site emails the customer the link to their purchased template. Without that ability, I will have to manually track down their link through that service and message or email each customer their link. This also takes away the "instant download" appeal and places so much more work on the seller. Will there be a workaround for integrations that rely on that to function?

[WoodenFrameDecor]

Same problem.  Ugh.  Major headache.

[greenwoodstudioUK]

I don't see how they can do this, so many people use third party template sites to automate the sale process of digital products!

I can't imagine corjl and templett being too happy about this...

[PartyBeeInvitations]

As far as I know Corjl is still integrated however Templett and many others are not.  I don’t think Etsy realizes how many sellers will be effected by this that use Templett.  I believe it has just as many or more sellers using their services over Corjl.  I’m pretty terrified if this doesn’t get resolved. 

[HerrMoostache]

Hello,

Quick reminder: Please keep discussions civil and on topic, and your feedback constructive - at a baseline level, please refrain from unsolicited critiques, assumptions, or bringing up matters that are otherwise not relevant to the topic at hand.

If you are new or have questions about how the Community Forums work, I encourage you to read our Community Policies before posting.

Thank you.

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Note:  For visibility purposes only, this reply has been marked as a "Solution".

[Fronne]

Hi,

You removed the content of the email because it is not allowed to share emails from Etsy. I didn't know that.

Because the content of the email (the essence) is removed, nobody knows what has been discussed so this post is confusing.

Can I edit the post, and describe the content of the email (in broad terms) or is that not allowed too?

[HerrMoostache]

Hi @Fronne,

Generally describing the content (i.e., not quoting it directly) is fine.

[MynaCollectionShop]

Bonsoir Fronne,

Je sais pas si cela peut vous aider, aller sur l'onglet "Forum Etsy" ensuite aller sur "Annonce", il y'a Murphy Communauté manager qui a publier il y'a quelques heures un sujet sur la confidentialité. C'est intéressant et beaucoup d'informations. Cela va peut être vous aider.

N'hésitez pas à contacter la hotline par chat directement via votre boutique. Ils sont très disponibles.

Bonne chance et bon courage

[MurphyGardens · Accepted solution]

Thank you @MynaCollectionShop!

We shared an update this morning about our decision to limit buyer information from API integrations. We did our best to minimize the impact this may have on the tools sellers depend upon to run their businesses. We also reached out to sellers impacted by this change via email earlier today.

You’ll find more details about using Etsy’s API here. If you need support navigating these changes, please reach out to us directly.

[Fronne]

Merci pour le conseil, j'irai voir ce week-end...

Tchin-Cheers

[bradgoodell]

I received the same email, but for Intuit/Quickbooks.  I'm cool with that, there is no reason Quickbooks should have my Etsy buyer's email addresses.  

[FlahertyNaturals]

Re eRank and email addresses - 

eRank has never used this feature, it will have no effect on any of our tools and features
Etsy are doing this is to protect buyers' privacy
This is an excellent thing for Etsy to do

[cindylouwho2]

@FlahertyNaturals do you work for eRank, or are you just copying that info from elsewhere? If the latter, it would be good to post the link! 

[ArgusCollection]

I see your point but all my customers are asked if they wish to join my weekly newsletter. They say no and that's the end of it. Their privacy is not infringed at all. This is a common thing with most online stores. I drive a lot of sales through my weekly emails so this is only going to hurt Etsy's bottom line.

[MichelleArtStudioCo]

So do I need to get rid of Erank? I really don’t use it. Sorry just confused.

[ArgusCollection]

I received the same message and I use AWeber. All my new customers are asked if they wish to join my email list so no one is surprised by unsolicited emails. I drive a ton of sales through my weekly email telling customers who have signed up about new products and sales. This is a great service to my customers and I get excellent feedback about it. So it makes no sense that Etsy is stopping these integrations. Properly done they protect the buyer and drive sales. 

[offleashcollective]

I am with you. I am furious.