You may have heard about GDPR lately, a European regulation to protect the privacy of EU residents, and want to create a GDPR-compliant privacy notice on your website. In fact, many advertising programs, such as Google Adsense, require participating websites to include a privacy policy page on their websites.
In this article, we will show you how to add a privacy policy page in WordPress.
Disclaimer : We are not attorneys. Nothing contained on this website should be considered legal advice.
What is a privacy policy page?
A privacy policy page is a statement from you in which you disclose the information you collect on your website about visitors. This includes information you collect through cookies, registration, comments, subscription forms, etc. Typically, website owners collect this information by installing web analytics software , such as Google Analytics, or statistics counters. Users also voluntarily provide information by filling in their details on comment, registration, and subscription forms.
A privacy policy page is also a statement that new zealand business email list reveals how this information is used. For example, website owners who serve ads through third-party websites often share this information with their advertising partners. If you are building an email list , you should assure users that their email addresses will not be sold or shared with third-party websites.
Do you need to create a privacy policy page on your website?
In many countries (including the United States), websites are required by law to disclose what information they collect about their visitors and how this information is used.
Additionally, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect on May 25, 2018. This regulation requires website owners like you to be transparent about how they collect, use, and share personal data of EU residents, regardless of where your business is located. If your company fails to comply with GDPR requirements, you can face fines of up to 4% of the company’s annual global revenue or €20 million (whichever is greater).
Some of the ways a typical WordPress website collects user information are:
Comments on WordPress: If comments are enabled on your website, you will also be collecting personal data such as name and email address from your users. After commenting on a website, personal data is also saved in browser cookies, so that commenters do not have to resubmit it next time. This makes commenting more convenient on WordPress websites.
Google Analytics : If you use Google Analytics on a WordPress site to track user interactions, it is likely collecting personal data such as IP addresses, user IDs, and cookies to create behavioral profiles.
Contact Forms : If you store contact form entries in WordPress or use the data for marketing purposes, you may want to obtain explicit consent from your users to do so.
Advertising : If you advertise through third-party websites, such as Google AdSense , you may share information about your users' behavior with your advertising partners.
This means that if you run a website, chances are that you are also collecting some personal data from your users. Since you are collecting data from users, it goes without saying that you should post a privacy policy page on your website. It protects your business from legal issues and also helps build user trust.
Now that you know why you need a privacy policy page on your website, it's worth taking a moment to learn about the GDPR and how to make your website compliant.
What is the GDPR Regulation?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union (EU) law, which goes into effect on May 25, 2018. It requires companies and site owners to disclose how they collect, use, and share their users' personal data. The goal is to give EU citizens more access and choice when it comes to how their own personal data is collected, used, and shared.
Please note that although the GDPR is a European regulation, it applies to all websites and online businesses around the world that collect, store and process personal data of EU residents, regardless of where the business is located.
Of course, this law also applies to you if your site attracts visitors from countries in the European Union.
For more information, check out the ultimate guide to WordPress and GDPR compliance .