What Instacart (Maplebear) does with your data

What it collects and does with your data

• Privacy policy says Instacart 'sell[s]' or 'share[s]' identifiers, customer records, commercial information, and internet activity with 'third-party partners, including marketing and advertising partners' for behavioral advertising.
• Privacy policy says Instacart may record session replays including 'clicks, mouse movements, scrolls, and keystrokes/key touches.'
• Privacy policy says Instacart may collect vehicle license plate numbers for curbside pickup and receives prescription details from pharmacies for prescription delivery.
• Consumer Reports, Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union reported that Instacart, via Eversight software, showed different shoppers up to 23% different prices for the same item at the same store at the same time; retailers observed included Albertsons, Costco, Kroger, Safeway, Sprouts and Target.
• Instacart said it ended all item price tests on its platform after the report and FTC inquiry.

Sensitive data

• precise location
• license plates (curbside)
• prescription and pharmacy data
• government ID (alcohol, prescriptions)
• session replay keystrokes
• payment

Enforcement and litigation

2 matters in the research. Where the research says alleged, pending, or settled without admitting wrongdoing, so does this page.

• FTC consent order over 'free delivery' claims and Instacart+ subscription practices. $60M paid to FTC; order does not include admission of liability; final 2026-01-13. Amount: $60 million.
• FTC civil investigative demand to Instacart about Eversight AI pricing tool, as reported by Groundwork Collaborative. Status unknown.

Who else holds your data

Organizations holding a copy of your data, as the research counts them: at least 13. Lower bound: one organization per disclosed recipient category. The retailer you ordered from is a separate holder on top of Instacart.

Third parties: 13 disclosed recipient categories. Named: Google Analytics; Facebook and Google login; retail partners. Categories: affiliates, service providers, marketing and advertising partners, analytics providers, personal shoppers, retailers, restaurant partner, Fresh Funds partners, other users, legal, business transfers, co-branded partners, other third parties with consent.

Data brokers linked to Instacart (Maplebear)

None. The research documents no flow between Instacart (Maplebear) and a data broker.

Data practices score

14 of 15. Five components, each 0 to 3. How the score works

Sells or shares

2

Enforcement

3

Retail media scale

3

Sensitive data

3

Opt-out friction

3

Estimated emissions for one person

Research gaps

• Customer count is from a secondary summary of management remarks.
• 'Advertising and other' is not pure ad revenue.
• No email frequency measurement found.
• Privacy policy dated 2024-09-16 is the version served; a newer version may exist.