Protect Your Privacy on Amazon by Changing These Settings

Amazon is the leading online e-commerce marketplace, but many of its users aren’t aware that many of their purchases on the platform aren’t as anonymous as they think.

Fox News published an article recently focusing on five things that a user can do with their Amazon account that they may not be aware of, but the most important aspects of this article are the ones relating to user privacy. Many users are unaware that they have a public Amazon profile which is created automatically and contains comments, ratings, wish lists, personal information and a host of other data. Here’s how a user can control how their public Amazon profile is seen:

1. Put your cursor on the “Account & Lists,” button and then click on “Your Account.”

2. Scroll down to the “Ordering and shopping preferences” section. Click the “Profile” link, which is right above the social media preferences link.

3. Click on the link in the orange box to the right that says, “Edit your profile.” Click the Edit privacy settings tab.

4. You can select or deselect items like Reviews, Questions, Who You Follow, Public Wish Lists, Baby Registry, and others. To simplify this, there’s also a handy option to “Hide all activity on your profile,” which turns everything off at once.

It’s sometimes hard to tell what other people can see. If you want a quick look at what information you’re sharing publicly, click “View your profile as a visitor.” You can tell at a glance if you’re sharing anything you don’t want to out in the public arena.

If your profile is showing your real name, or other biographical information you don’t want, go back to the profile settings page and click the Edit profile tab. It’s located right next to the Edit Privacy settings tab.

You can edit or delete any information like your Bio, Occupation, Location, and more. You can even change the “public name” on your profile and post reviews anonymously.

One of the other main pieces of information often left public that users are not aware of is their lists. Amazon lists including a user’s Shopping List, Wish Lists, and any custom lists created by the users. Here’s how to ensure you’re the only one that can see these lists:

To check the privacy settings of your Amazon Lists:

1. Click on the “Accounts & Lists” drop-down box then select “Shopping List” or “Wish List.”

2. Now on this “Your Lists” page, click on three dots (next to “Share List”) then select “Manage List.”

3. Here, you can change your list details like your list name, the name of the recipient, email, birthday and most of all, its privacy.

4. To change the list’s privacy, simply click on and select “Private” on the drop-down box.

Amazon also tracks users browsing habits, this allows them to target ads towards users and determine what they’re most likely to be interested in buying. Here’s how to stop Amazon from following you around the internet and collecting data:

1. Log in to your account at Amazon.com

2. On the upper menu, click on “Your Browsing History.”

3. On the next page, click on the “Manage history” drop-down arrow.

4. Toggle “Turn Browsing History on/off” to Off

Note: You can also clear your entire browsing history here by clicking the “Remove all items” button

Meanwhile, you can also turn off personalized ads, which many customers find intrusive. Here’s how to turn off targeted ads on your browser:

1. Go to “Your Account” page.

2. Under “Email alerts, messages, and ads,” click “Advertising preferences”

3. On this page, select “Do Not Personalize Ads from Amazon for this Internet Browser”

4. Hit “Submit”

Utilize these tips to make your Amazon account as secure as possible.