Overview
- Apple updated the Apple Store app privacy page on Wednesday, July 22 to add a new “Virtual Shopping Assistant” entry that describes a forthcoming chat‑based shopping feature.
- The documentation says the assistant will collect account details, device identifiers, carrier information, chat transcripts and, when enabled, location data to personalize responses.
- Apple will save chat transcripts so users can revisit conversations and for business analytics, and a Chat Improvements toggle in Account > Settings will let users opt in to have their chats used to improve the assistant.
- The privacy text says Apple will remove personal identifiers before sharing chats with unnamed “partners” to help generate conversational replies, a phrase reporters read as a sign that third‑party AI models or vendors may be involved; the assistant is not yet live and appears to be in limited testing.
- The move builds on Apple’s recent retail AI work — the Support app chatbot, an internal Sales Coach bot and reported Live Notes tests — and raises questions about partner identities, recommendation bias and the pace and geography of the phased rollout.