About Amazon may know you a little too well

Amazon's "About You" feature includes personal details from your purchase history, and some shoppers come up with hilarious results.

Amazon's new "About You" page attracts users

Amazon's "About You" page is causing concern as the "more than the number" panel reacts to the retail giant's data tracking. Kayleigh McEnany, Kat Timpf, Adam Carolla, Harris Faulkner and Kennedy discuss the discovery in a viral post.

Amazon knows what you buy, what you search for, and even what you tell its shopping assistant. Now, the company is giving you a look at the personality profile it built from all that information. When I checked your Amazon profile, I found 81 results, including a reference to my mother that surprised me. This feature gathers details about your shopping habits and preferences. Some are useful. Others may wonder how Amazon got to these results in the first place.

Shoppers are now sharing screenshots of descriptions that range from the hilarious to the completely false. Amazon says this feature helps improve shopping recommendations. However, it also raises an interesting question about privacy. How much does a retailer need to know about you, and how much control do you really have over that information?

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What your ISP, websites and advertisers see

Amazon's "About You" feature reveals your personal preferences and shopping habits, which the company uses to recommend products. (Amazon)

Amazon introduced About You in May 2026, though the feature has recently gained widespread attention as shoppers share their profiles on social media. Amazon has been making personalized shopping recommendations for years. If you've bought a coffee maker, you've probably noticed offers for filters or other accessories. This type of advice is familiar to anyone who shops online. Now, Amazon is taking the personalization even further with About You, a section that tells shoppers what the company believes about their interests and preferences.

According to Amazon, this feature uses information from multiple sources, including your purchase history, product reviews, and items saved in listings. Searches and conversations with Alexa for Shopping can also influence what Amazon learns.

For example, someone who regularly buys dairy-free milk may receive recommendations for other dairy-free products. A shopper researching gardening supplies may see suggestions for fertilizer or companion plants. This seems useful enough. However, Amazon can also make assumptions about your personal preferences from individual purchases or short-term interests. This is where things can get awkward.

Amazon's About You feature is currently entertaining shoppers

Some shoppers have started sharing screenshots of their Amazon profiles on social media. The results range from remarkably accurate to unintentionally hilarious. A Threads user noticed that Amazon included the description "flat butt" in their profile. "I stumbled upon a page of assumptions that Amazon made about me based on my purchases and I am literally speechless," she wrote.

He even acknowledged that the assessment was not completely wrong. However, it's hard to imagine anyone asking an online retailer for a specific assessment. Meanwhile, another shopper shared a profile describing an obsession with minimalist, one-bag travel and a preference for Anker charging products. The buyer confirmed that Amazon had identified exactly these interests. Another user noted that Amazon had recorded a "one-off specialty cheese discovery." The answer was simple: "Guilty".

Other buyers have shared comments like "don't like it" and "can't keep real plants alive." One woman even reported that Amazon described her as a "fifty-year-old man." These are the kinds of assumptions that can make you wonder if Amazon knows you at all.

My personal profile included very specific observations. Amazon said I don't like "horror movies," "professional value premium audio equipment," "prefer dark chocolate," and "enjoy swimming." He even mentioned my regular purchase of fresh flowers. But one entry really surprised me. Amazon claimed that my mother had stayed at a hotel with someone else who identified her name and had a negative experience. I certainly did not expect to find such information about a family member in my purchase profile.

These examples show how an algorithm can turn shopping activity into surprisingly personalized descriptions. Of course, Amazon's results may be incomplete or inaccurate. For example, buying something for a friend does not necessarily mean that you have a personal interest in that product.

Your phone may show visits to the doctor, church, and pharmacy

Amazon organizes what it knows about shoppers into categories such as diet, hobbies and family that users can review and update. (Megan Montgomery / Threads)

Why does Amazon know so much about your shopping habits?

Every time you interact with Amazon, you're potentially giving the company another clue about your preferences. Searching for a product can indicate interest, while purchasing provides a stronger signal about what you wanted at that moment. Amazon also uses data from its AI shopping assistant. If you tell Alexa to shop that your cat prefers a certain flavor of food, Amazon can use those details to recommend similar products.

According to the company, these interactions help make recommendations more relevant. However, a single purchase may reflect a temporary need rather than an enduring preference. Consider buying an unusual gift for a relative. You may suddenly find that Amazon treats that purchase as evidence of a personal hobby. This raises another concern. Some purchases can represent sensitive interests involving your health, relationships, or other aspects of your private life. Even when Amazon draws the wrong conclusion, you might want to remove it from your shopping profile.

Amazon makes About You available through its shopping app, mobile website, and desktop website. You can review and make changes to the information this company has associated with your profile.

In the Amazon shopping app or mobile website

Open the Amazon shopping app or visit on your phone.

Review the details Amazon has collected or inferred about your preferences.

If you don't see yours using these steps, try this alternative route in the Amazon shopping app:

Tap on you or the person icon at the bottom of the app.

Under Account Settings, look for Purchase Settings.

If that option appears, select Manage your information.

Hover over your name above the account and the listings in the upper right corner.

Click on your name or select Who's Buying? Select a profile.

Review the information displayed on your profile.

How to remove personal information about you from Amazon

If you use Amazon regularly, here's where I spend a few minutes. The company says About You allows you to correct preferences, provide feedback and delete information you do not want used for personalization.

Select a category to review the details that Amazon has recorded or inferred about you.

When the confirmation prompt appears, select Remove again. You do not need to provide a reason.

Repeat these steps for other unwanted entries.

If you want to edit the details instead of deleting them, open the entry and look for the edit or feedback option. Make your changes and follow the prompts to save them. Amazon has not established that every user account will display the same editing controls. Available options may depend on the information displayed. Removing a detail from About You changes how Amazon uses this preference for personalization. It does not necessarily erase the original purchase, search, or conversation from any Amazon system.