We provide financial infrastructure for the internet. Individuals and businesses of all sizes use our technology and services to facilitate purchases, accept payments, send payouts, and manage online businesses.
Privacy Policy (“Policy”)
Describes the Personal Data we collect, how we use and share it, along with details on how you can reach out to us with privacy-related inquiries. Additionally, the Policy outlines your rights as a data subject and choices you have, including the right to object to certain usages of your Personal Data by us.
In this Policy, “Stripe”, “we”, “our,” or “us” refers to the Stripe entity responsible for the collection, use, and handling of Personal Data as described in this document. Depending on your jurisdiction, the specific Stripe entity accountable for your Personal Data might vary.
“Personal Data” refers to any information associated with an identified or identifiable individual, which can include data that you provide to us, and we collect about you during your interaction with our Services (such as device information, IP address, etc.).
“Services” refer to the products and services provided by Stripe under the Stripe Services Agreement and the Stripe Consumer Terms of Service. This may include devices and applications provided by Stripe. Our “Business Services” are services that we provide to entities (“Business Users”) that directly and indirectly provide us with “End Customer” Personal Data in connection with their own business operations and activities. Our “End User Services” are those that Stripe provides directly to individuals for their personal use. “Sites” refer to Stripe.com, Link.com, and other Stripe websites, apps, and online services. Collectively, we refer to Sites, Business Services, and End User Services as “Services.”
Depending on the context, “you” might be an End Customer, End User, Representative, or Visitor:
- When you use an End User Service for personal use, such as signing up for Link, we refer to you as an “End User.”
- When you do business with, or otherwise engage in a transaction with a Business User, such as buying a pair of shoes from a Business User using Stripe Checkout for payment processing, but are not directly transacting with Stripe, we refer to you as an “End Customer.”
- When you are acting on behalf of an existing or potential Business User—perhaps as a company founder, account administrator for a Business User, or a recipient of an employee credit card from a Business User via Stripe Issuing—we categorize you as a “Representative.”
- When you interact with Stripe by visiting a Site without being logged into a Stripe account, or when your interaction with Stripe does not involve you being an End User, End Customer, or Representative, you are considered a “Visitor.” For example, you are a Visitor when you send a message to Stripe asking for more information about our Services.
In this Policy, “Transaction Data” refers to data collected and used by Stripe to facilitate transactions you request. Some Transaction Data is Personal Data and may include: your name, email address, contact number, billing and shipping address, payment method information (like credit or debit card number, bank account details, or payment card image chosen by you), merchant and location details, amount and date of purchase, and in some instances, information about what was purchased.
Depending on the activity, Stripe assumes the role of a “data controller” and/or “data processor” (or “service provider”) based on the activity.
Stripe Link payments
Stripe offers a service called “Link,” which allows you to store your payment methods with Stripe to conveniently use them across our Business Users. When you sign up for Link, you agree to store your Personal Data (such as name, contact information, payment method details) with Stripe. This will allow for a more streamlined purchasing experience when using Link in the future. If you choose to pay with Link, we will also collect Transaction Data associated with your transactions
Should you decide to share your bank account information (including to make payments using your bank account via Link) with us, Stripe will periodically collect and process your account information (such as bank account owner information, account balances, account number and details, account transactions, and, in some cases, log-in credentials). You can ask us to cease the collection of such data at any time.
When you use Link to make payments, we use your Personal Data (such as name, contact information, payment method details) saved with us to complete transactions with Stripe Business Users. We provide such data to Business Users and others you do business with and process it as a Data Processor for those Business Users, as detailed in Section 1.2 of this Policy.
Payment Processing
During payment transactions, your Personal Data is shared with various entities in connection to your transaction. As a service provider or data processor, we share Personal Data to enable transactions as directed by Business Users. For instance, when you choose a payment method for your transaction, be it a credit card, debit card, Buy Now Pay Later, or direct debit, your payment method provider may receive your Transaction Data from transactions facilitated by Stripe. The Business User you choose to do business with also receives Transaction Data and might share the data with others. Please review their privacy policies for more information about how they use and share your Personal Data.
Infrastructure safeguards
The security teams test our infrastructure regularly by scanning for vulnerabilities and conducting penetration tests and red team exercises. We hire industry-leading security companies to perform third-party scans of our systems, and we immediately address their findings. Our servers are frequently and automatically replaced to maintain server health and discard stale connections or resources. Server operating systems are upgraded well in advance of their security end of life (EOL) date.
Dedicated card technology
Stripe encrypts sensitive data both in transit and at rest. Stripe’s infrastructure for storing, decrypting, and transmitting primary account numbers (PANs), such as credit card numbers, runs in a separate hosting infrastructure, and doesn’t share any credentials with the rest of our services. A dedicated team manages our CDV in an isolated Amazon Web Services (AWS) environment that’s separate from the rest of Stripe’s infrastructure. Access to this separate environment is restricted to a small number of specially trained engineers and access is reviewed quarterly.
All card numbers are encrypted at rest with AES-256. Decryption keys are stored on separate machines. We tokenise PANs internally, isolating raw numbers from the rest of our infrastructure. None of Stripe’s internal servers and daemons can obtain plain text card numbers but can request that cards are sent to a service provider on a static allowlist. Stripe’s infrastructure for storing, decrypting, and transmitting card numbers runs in a separate hosting environment, and doesn’t share any credentials with Stripe’s primary services including our API and website. It’s not just PANs that are tokenised this way; we treat other sensitive data, such as bank account information, in a similar way.
Security Policy
As a payment service provider (PSP), thousands of businesses outsource their transaction security to us. It is our top priority to ensure that your customers” transaction data is kept secure at all times.
