Does eBay train on your data?
eBay trains its own and third-party AI models on users' personal data under legitimate interest. In the EEA, UK and Switzerland a switch in settings turns it off; elsewhere objecting is a request.
"Where permitted under applicable law, we use personal data collected from our users to train, test, validate, and align our own AI models as well as third-party AI models and systems that we use for the purposes outlined in this User Privacy Notice."
- 21 Sept 2026
- 5 Oct 2026
- EEA, UK and Swiss accounts
- eu
- Fetched, browser-rendered
- B754AF54…EF1E
How we read it: Legitimate interest, not consent, so training runs unless you act — on data eBay names: "the personal data set out in Section 4". Corrected 5 Sept 2026, from D: the notice links its objection right for AI training to a page in account settings, and on a signed-in UK account that page carries one switch, "Use personal data for AI development and training", set to Yes. The page says it is intended for users in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, and that an objection "will be upheld". A named switch, in settings, with a stated starting position is the C shape. The page sits behind a login, so nothing on it is archived or quoted as evidence.
opt out, opt-out, object, settings, withdraw, AI development
What the document does offer
- "Your rights also include the right to object ... to our processing of your personal data for AI development and training purposes" — named, tied to training, and linked to accountsettings.ebay.com/ai-preferences
- on that page, read on a signed-in UK account on 5 Sept 2026: one switch, "Use personal data for AI development and training", set to Yes, under the text "This setting is intended to help our users in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom and Switzerland"
- "you can withdraw your consent and object to our processing of your personal data on the basis of our legitimate interests" — the general right, of which the above is the AI-specific case
Why none of it applies: The control is a switch, it is in account settings, and the page states its starting position: Yes. That clears the bar the D-grade entries miss. What holds it at C rather than higher is that same default: training runs until the account holder finds the page.
"Where permitted under applicable law, we use personal data collected from our users to train, test, validate, and align our own AI models as well as third-party AI models and systems that we use for the purposes outlined in this User Privacy Notice."
- 21 Sept 2026
- 5 Oct 2026
- Other accounts
- row
- Fetched, browser-rendered
- B754AF54…EF1E
How we read it: Legitimate interest, not consent, so training runs unless you act — on data eBay names: "the personal data set out in Section 4", covering listings, messages and images. Two things lift this above the F-grade marketplaces: the objection right is extended to AI training by name, and the mitigation is specific — "filtering, data masking, differential privacy techniques", as eBay assesses them. The settings page the notice links says it is intended for users in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland; for everyone else the notice offers the objection as a rights request through the eBay Privacy Center, which is the D shape.
opt out, opt-out, object, settings, withdraw, AI development
What the document does offer
- "Your rights also include the right to object ... to our processing of your personal data for AI development and training purposes" — named, and tied to training rather than to marketing
- "you can withdraw your consent and object to our processing of your personal data on the basis of our legitimate interests" — the general right, of which the above is the AI-specific case
- the settings page the notice links describes itself as intended for users in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland; for other accounts the route is the eBay Privacy Center, linked out of the notice
Why none of it applies: The control exists and is unusually explicit about covering AI training. Outside the EEA, the UK and Switzerland it is not a switch: the notice sends you to a rights process on another page, which is the D-grade shape — an opt-out that exists and that you have to go looking for.
What each plan can refuse
The same questions, asked of every plan we could identify. Every cell comes from a quoted clause or a documented search - see the evidence above.
- Self-serve toggle
- Not stated
- 36 / 100
- Qualified
- Unknown
- Contact support
- Not stated
- 54 / 100
- Qualified
- Unknown
How to opt out of eBay AI training
Plan by plan, from what eBay's own policy says about refusing. Where it publishes the steps, they're listed here with the limits they carry. Where there's nothing to switch off, or nothing graded, this says so instead of inventing a menu path.
EEA, UK and Swiss accounts
Yes. eBay has a self-serve setting.
- Sign in and open My eBay, then Account, then "AI development and training preferences" (accountsettings.ebay.com/ai-preferences).
- Switch "Use personal data for AI development and training" from Yes to No.
The page says it is intended for users in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, and that the setting can be changed at any time. It sits behind a login, so we read it on a signed-in account rather than from an archive.
Other accounts
Yes, but not self-serve: eBay makes you contact support.
- Open the eBay Privacy Center's contact page, ebayinc.com/company/privacy-center/privacy-contact/, and submit a request.
- Say you object to the use of your personal data for AI development and training, the right the notice extends by name.
If your account is in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, the switch above is the faster route; the notice gives everyone else this one.
What this policy has done since we started watching
No change detected. We've held a copy of eBay's policy since 30 Aug 2026 and re-read it since, across 4 captures. The text hasn't moved in a way that touches this verdict. That's a fact about the document, and it's only knowable by having kept the earlier copies.
Everything we read
Vendor response
We haven't yet written to eBay about this verdict, and they haven't disputed, clarified or announced a change to any clause quoted above. When either happens it's published here, word for word.
Report a wrong clause