Yesterday I saw a chilling sight.
While passing a restaurant that closed recently, there was a dumpster outside full of paperwork from the restaurant.
Payroll paperwork.
Dozens of boxes worth dating back to the '80s. Just sitting out on a busy street in a dumpster in plain sight of everyone.
It's no wonder why identity theft is so common.
Running a Shopify can have similar data problems but you might not even realize it.
If you're not careful about which apps you install and what data they get access to, you could be letting someone rifle through your files.
I've seen a number of apps that ask for permission to access data they have no business seeing. "Um, why does a banner app need to be able to read and write to my customers?"
Shopify has an apps team that tries to find and correct those, but they are a small team and there are a lot of apps with more added every day.
What an app does with your data should give you pause before installing a free app.
Free apps have to make money somehow, it could be through a legitimate upsell but it could also be a bait-and-switch app or a way to sell your data off to the highest bidder.
If the only thing you can find out about the company behind an app is a thin webpage and some stock photos, you might want to avoid that app.
Something to think about as you start planning for Q4.
On a lighter note, Google's been handing out a lot of Rich Result search enhancements to those websites who help them. That's why adding structured data to your Shopify store can be a valuable option.
With JSON-LD for SEO it's even easier. The app will automatically add the data needed for search enhancements like Rich Results and Rich Snippets on products, blog posts, landing pages, and more.
Already trusted by a few thousand Shopify stores since 2015, it's the safe and efficient choice for structured data.
(And it doesn't mess with any of your data either)
Eric Davis