How to make your WordPress site GDPR compliant?
Tags: Gdpr And Wordpress, Wordpress Plugins, Wordpress Cookies, WordPress, Gdpr Compliance

The ultimate guide to Wordpress & GDPR Compliance

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a new law passed by the EU (European Union) that requires all websites to adhere to some requirements. The purpose of the GDPR Law is to protect people against data breaches. It entails how personal data is to be used and extracted when users visit and interact with a website. This act affects all websites since they are most likely to get visitors from the EU states.

Most WordPress sites or other sites collect information in many ways. If a website uses analytics, WordPress forms, opt-in forms, or email marketing, then it is collecting personal information and thus GDPR compliance becomes obligatory for such websites.

Here are some of the key aspects of the GDPR Law that affects businesses:

All websites must clearly disclose that they are gathering personal data.

Businesses must inform individuals about why, how, and where they save and process users’ data.

Users have a right to get a transferrable copy of the data collected from them.

They have the right to have their data removed under some circumstances.

Businesses with main activities where they collect personal data must have a data protection officer.

Businesses must report serious misuses of information within 72 hours.

GDPR violations can be fined up to €20 million or up to 4% of the annual worldwide turnover or whichever higher.

Your biggest concern as a website owner is to gain consent from site visitors. According to the GDPR, you need to have explicit consent from EU citizens to collect and process their personal information. Without consent, you cannot share this information with your advertising and marketing agencies.

Now the main question is how do we make our WordPress websites GDPR compliant? There is good news for WordPress users. WordPress now has GDPR-compliant features as part of its core. To begin making your WordPress site more GDPR compliant, here’s what you can do:

1. Update to WordPress version 4.9.6 or higher

WordPress 4.9.6 and the later versions have many built-in privacy settings. By updating your WordPress software, you’re on the way to effective GDPR compliance.

Let’s look at the new features of WordPress that comply to GDPR policy. They have explicit consent in comments, new data export, and erase features and a privacy policy generator.

a) Explicit consent in WordPress comments

In older versions, WordPress stored people’s names and details when filling in comments so that they did not have to retype their information when making a new comment. Now, WordPress includes a checkbox that people have to manually check. Doing so means that their names and emails are remembered and they do not have to re-enter them.

b) New data export and erase features

WordPress has added two options under Tools in your WordPress dashboard: Export Personal Data and Erase Personal Data.

You can use these to export a user’s information into a .zip file or completely erase them from your database if they requested it. These features allow you in managing users’ personal data more easily and automatically.

c) Policy generator

WordPress has also created a privacy policy template. This allows you to design a page that informs visitors about what data you store and how you use it.

You can find the policy generator in the Settings and Privacy tab on your dashboard. If you already have a privacy policy page then you can change that under the Change your Privacy Policy page.

You can also create a New Page. This will make a new page with pre-made content for disclosures and privacy information. There are also helpful titles and recommendations. You will have to generate content for these sections.

With these major features in place, WordPress makes it easy for you to take a step towards GDPR compliance. Let’s look at some other things you need to take care of.

Additional steps to make your site GDPR compliant

It isn’t possible to cover everything you need to know to make your website 100% GDPR compliant. However, here are a few important aspects of your website that you can look after. This will make your website adapt to the act more strictly.

2) HTTPS

It is always advisable to encrypt traffic to your website. Ensure this by HTTPS for your website. It also gives site users a feeling of security and trust.

3) Contact forms

Users have to be aware that the site will gather their data when they fill your contact form. This is the same with any other form such as a registration form or opt-in form on your site.

Make a tick box so that users can check it to confirm that they agree to your terms of service when they click submit. You have to make another tick box so that users agree that you will send them some marketing communication. The tick box must not be checked in advance. Users have to click on it to give explicit consent. Luckily, most used contact forms like WPForms, Ninja Forms, and Contact Form 7 make it really easy to add these tick boxes.

4) Add a cookie notice

It’s essential to alert users on your website that your site collects cookies. You can do this by generating an overlay with a cookie notification plugin. Few plugins you can use are Cookie Notice and Cookie Consent.

5) Notifications for policy updates or data breach

Make an automated system to inform users about policy updates and data breaches. You can use an email blast to inform users about policy changes.

6) Analytics, tracking, and remarketing

This relates to any other third-party services or plugins you use that collect data. This comprises Google Analytics, Google Adwords, remarketing services, and e-commerce analytics.

To accomplish this, you have to anonymize the data before storage and processing. Doing so can be difficult if you’ve manually added Google Analytics to your site. However, you can use a tool or a plugin that automatically connects Google Analytics to your site. Choose one that has GDPR compliance options and can make data anonymization easy.

7) WooCommerce

If you’re using WooCommerce for your online stores, then you can check its built-in tool to manage user privacy. Go to Settings and Accounts and Privacy. Enable the options for personal data retention. Also, enable options for erasure and privacy policy.

Add the necessary information and disclosure to your WooCommerce privacy policy. It is helpful to add information especially related to shopping and payment security.

Implementing GDPR creates a positive impression on users' minds. Almost, 88% of users who are ready to share personal information want transparency about how businesses use their information. Adding GDPR policies helps you and your business more than it inconveniences it.

Even after doing this your website may not be 100% GDPR compliant, it is a good start but since there is no one shoe fits all policy so each enterprise needs to take it a step ahead. There are a few software and plugins that you can install at a relatively low cost to make your WordPress website absolutely GDPR compliant. I personally recommend WP GDPR plugin Fix that can make your WordPress website compliant at a relatively inexpensive cost. This might be the most important investment you will make all year because without this one investment you are putting all your other investments in your business and your site at risk.

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(Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links which means if you decide to purchase, I will earn a commission with no additional cost to you.)