How to avoid email attribute populating after web purchase?

Are you using your own Paddle checkout or one of RevenueCat’s web checkout options?

You can clear the email from the customer profile, or set the $email attribute to an empty string. The catch is that this only clears it after it’s already been saved, so it doesn’t really solve the privacy concern you’re describing.

I’m not sure whether it’ll come back on a later sync, so I wouldn’t rely on clearing it as a permanent fix. That’s the part I’d check with RevenueCat support.

Here’s how to clear the attribute: https://www.revenuecat.com/docs/customers/customer-attributes

I’m using a web purchase link. I guess populating the email attribute is done by the RC webhook when it is notified by Paddle of the purchase.

Hi, thanks for the reply!

Is there a way for my backend to get notified of a purchase so I can trigger the attribute deletion automatically?

Yes, you can use a RevenueCat webhook for that. In your project, go to Integrations → Webhooks → Add new configuration and enter your backend’s HTTPS endpoint.

Handle INITIAL_PURCHASE for new subscriptions, or NON_RENEWING_PURCHASE for one time purchases. Use the event’s app_user_id to call POST /subscribers/{app_user_id}/attributes and set the $email attribute’s value to an empty string.

Set and validate the webhook authorization header, and make the handler safe to retry. This still clears the email after it has been collected, so it doesn’t prevent the initial storage.

Webhook setup: https://www.revenuecat.com/docs/integrations/webhooks
Clearing attributes: https://www.revenuecat.com/docs/customers/customer-attributes#deleting-attributes

I completely get where you're coming from—minimizing data collection is super important nowadays. When using Paddle, the email field often pre-fills because of browser autofill or Paddle's own stored cookies from previous checkouts. To get around this, you can try making purchases using your browser's private/incognito mode with autofill completely disabled, or use masked/alias email services like Apple's "Hide My Email" or SimpleLogin. That way, even if an email gets populated or required, it's not your actual primary inbox tied to your identity. 

Sometimes sorting through privacy settings and online security habits can feel like a bit of a mental maze, almost like trying to pick options when you're indecisive about which tools to trust online—you can see more about how different random choice spinners help people simplify everyday digital choices when juggling multiple accounts. Hope this helps you lock down your checkout privacy a bit more!

Dealing with Paddle and other merchant of record platforms when you want to stay low-profile can definitely be annoying, since they often cache billing profiles or auto-fill fields based on browser cookies, local storage, or previous payment tokens. 

To break that auto-populate habit, you usually have to tackle it from a few different angles. First, make sure you're using a dedicated privacy browser or an isolated container tab (like Firefox containers or a clean Incognito/Private window) so it doesn't pull cached local storage data. Second, when checking out, avoid logging into any browser-saved password managers or autofill profiles; instead, type everything manually and use privacy-focused virtual credit cards or masked payment methods that don't tie your real personal inbox directly to the merchant dashboard. If you need to verify specific transaction setups or check related documentation on handling digital account queries locally, you can visit this portal for further assistance on managing communications securely.