Instacart customers play an integral role in ensuring an environment built on a foundation of Safety, Respect, and Integrity for all users.

Safety: Safety is our first priority. Every individual should feel comfortable, safe, and secure using the Instacart platform. We don't permit any activity that could create unsafe conditions or cause harm to others.

To ensure the highest levels of safety on the platform, we reserve the right to investigate and take action on any instances including, but not limited to, the following—

- Acts of violence or aggression including, but not limited to assault, violence/threats of violence, aggressive gestures, battery, abusive or threatening mental or verbal treatment, harassment, etc.

- Sexual conduct of any kind involving customers, contractors, or employees of retailers or Instacart while receiving or facilitating services on the platform.

- Brandishing a weapon while receiving services unless state law expressly prohibits this restriction.

- Failure to verify your identity while receiving services on the platform.

- Demanding shoppers enter a residence. Instacart shoppers are expected to deliver groceries to the customer at their desired address, but are never expected or required to enter the residence of a customer and reserve the right to decline the request.

Respect: From the aisles of the grocery store to customers’ doors and everywhere in between, we strive to create and maintain a welcoming, inclusive, and respectful environment for everyone, at all times. Our expectation is simple: treat others the way you want to be treated.

As part of our continuous effort to promote respect on the platform, we reserve the right to investigate and take action on any instances including, but not limited to, the following—

- Discrimination of any kind on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender or gender identity, age, marital status, sexual orientation, mental/physical condition or disability, age, profession, national origin or any other basis protected under applicable law.

- Vulgar, inappropriate, intrusive, harassing, abusive or unwanted language of any kind towards others, whether verbal or written. This includes, but is not limited to, asking overly personal questions of customers, contractors, retailer employees or Instacart employees.Please note: Contact information between shoppers and customers is anonymized when interacting through the Instacart app. You do not need to share your personal phone number or email. The Instacart app should not be used to communicate for issues other than order items, the status of an order, or the manner of delivery.

- Unwanted physical contact or sexual conduct of any kind involving contractors, retail employees, or Instacart employees while receiving services.

- Intentional property damage or vandalism of any kind.

- Creating disturbances for the surrounding public (e.g. neighbors, co-workers, store employees, security guards, etc).

Integrity: Trust is a key ingredient in our recipe for success as a community. We expect all members of the Instacart community to be honest and to represent and conduct themselves in a way that fosters trust across the platform.

As part of our continuous effort to promote integrity on the platform, we reserve the right to investigate and take action on any instances including, but not limited to, the following—

- Violation of any local, state, or federal laws while engaging with the Instacart platform.

- Engaging in spam or phishing-related activity.

- Abuse and/or manipulation of referral, coupon, or appeasement offerings, loyalty programs, etc.

- Encouraging others to participate in fraud or to disrupt the integrity of the platform.

- Misrepresentation of identity/contact information or providing false information to internal teams during delivery.

- Instances of theft.

- Sharing or distributing personal information of customers, shoppers, retailers or Instacart employees. This includes taking screenshots of the Instacart app while displaying personally identifiable or sensitive information.

- Unauthorized use of Instacart’s trademark or intellectual property.

- Providing inaccurate or fraudulent information to Instacart during the sign-up process or otherwise.

- Holding duplicate accounts.

The Community Guidelines above are not comprehensive and Instacart reserves the right to suspend or deactivate customer, shopper or retailer accounts for other reasons as deemed necessary in Instacart’s reasonable and good faith business judgment to ensure the safe and reliable operation of the platform.

If your customer account has been deactivated and you have new information or evidence to show it was in error, please submit your evidence through the form found here.

Additional safety measures

Is this an emergency?

If you’re experiencing an emergency and need immediate assistance, please dial 911.

When emergency services have been notified and you’re safe, please feel free to use our customer in-app reporting feature to notify our Trust & Safety team about your recent experience.

Leave at my door deliveries

If you or a loved one don’t feel comfortable engaging with your shopper in person, we encourage our customers to select the leave at my door option for deliveries, with the exception of orders that require a valid ID scan. These types of deliveries include the following—

  • Alcohol/liquor.
  • Prescription and select over-the-counter medications.
  • High value items such as Macbooks, Airpods, and other high-value electronics.

Pet safety

Out of concern for shopper safety and your pet’s well-being, please make sure all pets are safely secured before your delivery arrives.

Unsafe environment

When your shopper arrives, please turn on your outdoor lights to help your shopper identify your home and be aware of any impediments or debris that may pose challenges in properly delivering your order.

Communicating with your shopper

Shopping for groceries can be a confusing and tedious task. Please be kind, considerate, and patient with your shopper. Language consisting of threats, profanity, or flirtatious language in-app or in person is a violation of Instacart’s policies and may result in the loss of your account.

Maintaining privacy with your shopper

To maintain your privacy with your shopper, please refrain from sharing any personal information. Shoppers and customers aren’t obligated to release any personal information while interacting with one another. All communication should happen through Instacart’s call and chat features in-app. Your account name and address is temporarily shared but not stored on the shopper's personal device. After the order is done, shoppers don’t have access to any customer's personally identifying information via the Instacart app.  Personal information that is not required to be shared with shoppers includes—

  • Personal phone number
  • Full legal name
  • Email address
  • Credit card information

Note: Your Instacart shopper is required to scan your ID when delivering prescription or alcohol orders. In addition, some states require the shopper to get a signature from the customer.