How to enable Protected Customer Data Access in dev/staging environments? SHOPIFY APPS

Authentication & Access
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Hi Shopify team and fellow developers,

We’re currently facing issues accessing customer data in our staging and dev apps, even though the same setup works fine in our main app, which has the Protected Customer Data Access permission approved.

Here’s a breakdown of the situation:

:white_check_mark: What works (Main app)

  • In our main app, protected customer data (such as customer.email, customer.first_name, and customer.last_name) is retrieved successfully.
  • The access scope was approved on February 4, 2025 (see screenshot 2).
  • Orders, customer details, and all required data load as expected from the Shopify API.

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:cross_mark: What doesn’t work (Staging & Dev)

  • In both our seedid-staging and seedid-testing apps, we’re still getting an ACCESS_DENIED error when attempting to fetch customer data (see screenshot 1).
  • The apps are still in draft status, and we assume this may be why permissions aren’t granted or enforced.
  • We’ve confirmed that the required scopes are declared in the app setup, and the collaborator has the right permissions.

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:magnifying_glass_tilted_left: What we’re trying to understand

  • How can we enable protected customer data access in draft/dev apps (not yet public on the Shopify App Store)?
  • Is there a process to request these permissions in staging/testing environments for development purposes?

:light_bulb: Additional Context & Compliance Proposal

We understand that the data we need to access is sensitive PII and fully agree that it must be handled in compliance with data privacy regulations. The specific data points we need are:

  • customer.email
  • customer.first_name
  • customer.last_name

Would such an approach be acceptable in dev environments, and is there a way to request limited scoped test access to this type of data?

Any insights or guidance from the Shopify team or others who have solved this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!