Amazon makes personal assumptions visible to users
The About You feature shows which preferences the online retailer infers from purchases, search behaviour and other signals.
Amazon’s About You feature reveals the personal assumptions it uses to personalise shopping experiences. Interest in the feature grew after a user found a striking conclusion about her body in her profile on Threads.
Amazon introduced About You in May 2026 as a place where customers can view, amend and delete preferences. According to Amazon, recommendations are based partly on purchase history, Alexa conversations, product reviews, lists and searches.
TechCrunch reported that a user saw a profile which stated, among other things, that she had flat buttocks. She suspected the conclusion had been inferred from buying a particular type of leggings. The user published her experience on Threads; TechCrunch reported that the post had been viewed more than a million times within a day.
Amazon has not publicly confirmed how this specific conclusion was reached. The company does confirm that About You displays automatically generated personal information intended to improve the shopping experience. It presents the feature as a way for users to gain more control over their preferences.
This makes visible a familiar mechanism of personalised commerce. A platform can infer patterns from individual purchases or searches that a user has never supplied themselves. Such an inference may be useful for recommendations, but it may also be inaccurate, outdated, overly personal or uncomfortable.
The feature does not mean that Amazon has a medical or legal profile of every customer. These are commercial assumptions for personalisation, and the information available differs by account and region. Nor has it been established that the displayed assumptions are used outside Amazon for other purposes.
The case does show why transparency in data processing involves more than a privacy statement. Users can assess whether a profile is reasonable only when they know which conclusions a platform draws, what they are based on and how they can correct or delete them.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- Amazon displays personal assumptions for shopping personalisation in About You.
- The assumptions are based on various user signals.
- A user published a striking profile conclusion on Threads.
- Amazon did not confirm how that specific conclusion was calculated.
Left
Arguments Platforms should limit personal inferences and give users genuine control over data inferred about them. Not everything that can be predicted from purchasing behaviour should be used for commercial personalisation.
Values Privacy, human dignity and limits on the power of technology companies.
Consequences Stricter rules could reduce unwanted profiling, but could make personalised services less accurate or more expensive.
Centre
Arguments Transparency, objection and correction are the most important institutional safeguards. Users should be able to see which data and assumptions are used without every form of personalisation being banned.
Values Proportionality, consumer protection and innovation.
Consequences A profile that can be checked may increase trust, but requires oversight and clear explanations that companies must also be able to provide technically.
Right
Arguments Consumers benefit from recommendations and can choose not to use a service. Companies should correct errors, but detailed regulation could limit useful personalisation and competition.
Values Freedom of choice, entrepreneurship and limited government intervention.
Consequences Greater commercial freedom may accelerate innovation, but leaves users dependent on the terms and transparency of dominant platforms.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The official Amazon source confirms About You and the data sources used. The specific user case and its reach are clearly attributed to TechCrunch and are not presented as facts confirmed by Amazon.
- confirmed Amazon About You allows users to view and amend personal preferences. — Stated in Amazon’s official announcement. source
- confirmed Amazon uses, among other things, purchases, Alexa conversations, reviews, lists and searches. — Mentioned by Amazon. source
- confirmed A user saw a body-related assumption in her Amazon profile. — Reported by TechCrunch based on a public Threads post. source
- confirmed The Threads post received more than a million views in one day. — This reach was reported by TechCrunch; it was not confirmed by Amazon. source
Editor's note
Amazon confirms the feature and the data sources used, but not the specific body-related conclusion from the viral user post. The reach of the Threads post was reported solely by TechCrunch.Sources
- How to find out if Amazon thinks you have flat buttocks — TechCrunch
- Introducing Amazon’s About You — Amazon
More on this in Dutch media
- Tweakers — „amazon privacy”
- AD — „amazon privacy”
- RTL Nieuws — „amazon privacy”