On May 25, 2018, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect, transforming how organizations handle personal data. What makes GDPR especially impactful is that it does not just apply to businesses located in the EU, it applies to anyone collecting or processing the personal data of EU citizens. Ignoring GDPR could result in fines of up to €20 million or 4% of your global annual revenue, whichever is higher.
Even widely-used platforms like WordPress have had to adapt rapidly. Developers have launched resources like GDPR for WordPress to help site owners comply. But regardless of your tech stack, you are responsible for ensuring compliance if your site handles any EU user data.
📋 What You Must Communicate to Users
To comply with GDPR, you must clearly and transparently inform users about how their data is handled. This includes:
Who you are (the data controller)
Why you are collecting data
How long the data will be stored
Who will have access to the data
How you obtain user consent
How users can access, download or delete their data
How you will notify users in the event of a data breach
For full legal guidance, refer to the official EU page:
🔗 ec.europa.eu/justice/smedataprotect
✅ Consent for Data Collection
Perhaps the most important principle of GDPR is explicit consent. You cannot pre-check boxes or assume consent.
For example, if your e-commerce site includes a checkbox like "Subscribe to our email list", that checkbox must not be selected by default. Consent must be freely given and affirmative.
Your goal should be to:
Collect no data by default
Request the minimum data necessary
Be able to prove that consent was given
📉 Ask for Less, Not More
Most websites ask for far more data than they actually need. Avoid this. If you only need an email address, ask only for that. If just a name will do, do not ask for more.
This does not mean you cannot collect any information but you must justify each piece. For example:
Asking for a birth date should have a specific purpose like “sending birthday greetings”
Avoid vague justifications like “we might need this later”
Users should know:
Who owns the site
Who can see their data
How long their data will be stored
🛠️ GDPR Compliance Checklist
To move toward GDPR compliance, here are some practical steps:
Add a page where users can view, download or delete their personal data
Define a breach notification plan in case of a hack or data leak
Clearly describe who you are, why you collect data, who can access it and how long you will store it
Create a Privacy Policy that reflects GDPR standards