What Best Buy does with your data

What it collects and does with your data

• Privacy policy says Best Buy may receive information about you from data brokers or other third parties.
• Privacy policy lists health information (e.g., hearing aid purchases), fingerprints (when required by law for trade-ins), and facial or wrist geometry (virtual try-on, not retained).
• Privacy policy says stores 'may use cameras and sensors for asset protection and other operational purposes, such as measuring traffic patterns.'
• Footer offers three separate controls: Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information, Limit Use of My Sensitive Personal Information, and Targeted Advertising Opt Out.
• On the Q4 FY2026 call Best Buy said its gross advertising collections were just over $900 million, up more than 7%, mostly recorded as an offset to cost of goods sold with a small amount in revenue.

Sensitive data

• fingerprints (trade-ins, policy)
• facial geometry (virtual try-on, policy)
• in-store cameras and sensors
• health (hearing aids, Best Buy Health)
• precise location

Enforcement and litigation

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

• Proposed Illinois BIPA class action (filed with parallel suits against Walmart, Kohl's, Home Depot) alleging use of Clearview AI face matching on store surveillance footage. Status not found.

Who else holds your data

Organizations holding a copy of your data, as the research counts them: at least 6. Lower bound: one organization per disclosed category. Data brokers supply data to Best Buy; they are counted as holders already.

Third parties: 6 disclosed recipient categories. Affiliates, service providers, interest-based advertisers, credit card and financial partners, legal/government, corporate transactions.

Data brokers linked to Best Buy

• Gets customer data from data brokers it doesn't name, already counted in its own figure. "Privacy policy says Best Buy may receive information about you from data brokers or other third parties."

Confidence: confirmed means the company confirmed it or reported it in a filing. Alleged means a complaint or petition says so, with no ruling found. Reported means journalism or a Senate letter. How brokers are included

Data practices score

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

Sells or shares

2

Enforcement

1

Retail media scale

2

Sensitive data

3

Opt-out friction

2

Estimated emissions for one person

Research gaps

• retail_media_scale of 2 rests on Best Buy's stated gross advertising collections (just over $900M in FY2026, from a Motley Fool transcript of the Q4 call). Best Buy discloses no ad revenue or ad profit; most collections are booked against cost of sales.
• No current member count.
• Status of 2022 BIPA suit not found.