User privacy should be the primary concern of most enterprises. After all, it is the users who bring you revenue and traffic. As a result, many, if not all, companies have created privacy policies that outline how they protect user data. Fortunately for
, there are many tools available for creating and enforcing privacy policies. More importantly, there is even a quick way to create privacy policies in WordPress.
in this article, we will discuss what privacy policy is and why it is so important. You will also learn how to decide whether a policy is needed, as well as some key laws and elements to consider. Finally, we’ll give you three ways to create a privacy policy in WordPress!
Why Privacy Policy is critical to WordPress
for beginners, Privacy Policy is a set of guidelines that tell users how their data is stored and used:
this information may come from multiple sources:
- Website cookies.
- forms and other sources of user input.
- payment transaction.
you sometimes receive a pop-up notice asking you to read and accept the Privacy Policy. Even so, it should be easy for end users to find.
essentially, every user on your site collects their data. Therefore, the formulation of special policies is not only essential, but also a legal requirement.
key Privacy laws you need to consider
over the past few years, websites have not always been required to legally provide any statements about how they use customer data.
, however, over the past few years, governments around the world have been pushing for better protection of user privacy on the Internet. Initially, instructions such as the so-called “Cookie method” allowed users to accept or reject the use of “site cookie”-small preference files saved on your computer. From there,
passed more privacy laws:
- General data Protection regulations (GDPR). This is the EU’s view on protecting user data and has been a “hot topic” over the past few years.
- California online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA). This is the first state law in the United States to regulate user data. It ensures that data collection companies display privacy policies on their websites.
- California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This applies to any business that provides services to customers in California and meets certain requirements.
- General personal data Protection Act (LGPD). Think of Brazil as the equivalent of GDPR. It covers both online and offline data protection. Although
has some local naming conventions, these laws apply globally. As a result, almost everyone who runs the site needs a privacy policy. Basic elements of
‘s sound privacy policy
since privacy policy is a legal requirement, it is not enough to state that “we protect user data”. In order to satisfy legislators, you must include many basic elements. A simple way for
to understand this is the classic “who, what, why, and how?” Method. You need to consider the following: who owns the
- website or application. What data is being collected by
- , why it is used, and how to use it. In addition, you need to pay attention to who has access to the collected data. What is the “legal basis” collected by
- ? For example, do users need consent or legal requirements?
- users have access to and delete their data. What is the security and compliance of
- cross-border or overseas data transmission?
you also need to discuss elements such as how to let users know any changes to the privacy policy and their effective dates.
more importantly, the position of your privacy policy is equally important. Many laws dictate how easy it should be for users to access privacy policies. CalOPPA, for example, is at the heart of a legal dispute with Google over the accessibility of its privacy policy. How
creates a privacy policy for WordPress sites the requirement for
to create a privacy policy seems irresistible. However, WordPress allows you to create privacy policies in a variety of ways.
Let’s take a look at three options you’ll encounter:
- uses WordPress’s privacy policy page.
- uses an online privacy policy generator.
- Purchase subscriptions to advanced privacy policy tools.
is not too late. Let’s take a look at your choice.
1. The latest version of WordPress using WordPress’s own privacy policy page
includes a built-in privacy page. This is a partially complete template that can be accessed through the WordPress dashboard.
Step 1. Visit draft Privacy Policy in WordPress
first go to the “Settings” & gt; “Privacy” page on the WordPress backend. This is essentially at the heart of your privacy policy:
we encourage you to read the information here because it provides a brief overview of what privacy policy means to you and the broad steps you need to take.
at the end of the page, you will find the settings for creating and customizing the privacy policy page. You can:
- choose the privacy policy page you want.
- creates a new policy page.
- edits or previews the privacy policy page of your choice. The
default page is generated by WordPress and is very suitable for beginners. To access it, click the edit link in the edit or preview your privacy policy page content notification.
Step 2. Fill in the privacy policy template with your own information
After clicking the edit link, you will be taken to the block editor page that contains your privacy policy framework:
you will notice that some parts are complete, while others just have a title. It’s a good idea to check the accuracy of the entire section before publishing the page. As for the blank parts of
, your goal is to fill in them with the information your users need to know. The exact wording is beyond the scope of this article, although each site contains a special guide to help you complete each section:
if you encounter difficulties, you can even use the suggested wording: after
finishes its privacy policy, the final step is to publish your changes and display them in WordPress.
Step 3: make your privacy policy visible in WordPress
your first decision here is where to place the link. Our advice (although we are not lawyers) is to put a link to your privacy policy in a common area on every page of your site. The footer is ideal.
to do this, go to the appearance in WordPress & the gt; menu. Here, either select an existing footer menu, or click the create new menu link:
next, name your menu as needed, and then select the display location. We are using the 2021 default theme, so we will select the secondary menu location before clicking create menu.
you now need to select your privacy policy page from the Page & gt; View all menu. If you don’t see it in the list, you may need to publish your page. The final step in
is to expand the menu item and change the navigation tab if necessary, then click Save Menu:
before you are done, please check the link at the front for visibility and other errors:
you may need to adjust your settings, wording, and location to improve your privacy policy.
2. Use online tools to generate privacy policy
you may want a privacy policy that is simpler than the WordPress solution. The good news is that there are many free (though limited) tools that can help you develop your privacy policy.
Step 1: select the right tool and create your policy
Quick search Free Privacy Policy Builder presents a number of options, such as TermsFeed and FreePrivacyPolicy. However, some of the more important elements, such as social media and analytics use, need to be paid for.
, by contrast, GetTerms.io is a serious way to create a privacy policy. In fact, there are exactly five fields, a drop-down menu, and two check boxes to navigate: after
fills in the details, click Generate Terms, and the website will create a privacy policy and terms of service:
you can choose the text or HTML version of the policy. We recommend switching to viewing HTML, and then clicking copy to Clipboard. From here, you need to return to WordPress to display your policy.
Step 2. Publish a privacy policy on your WordPress website
publishes your privacy policy in much the same way as using WordPress’s own solution. However, you need to create a dedicated page using the previously copied HTML.
first, click the page & gt; in WordPress to add a new one. In the new draft, go to the options menu on the right side of the screen, and then click Code Editor:
next, simply paste the HTML copied from GetTerms.io, and then click Exit code editor. Finally, publish the page as before and add it to the appropriate menu.
3. Choose Advanced Privacy Policy solution
in our view, creating an advanced privacy policy solution is the only way for the most serious WordPress sites. Let’s see how to implement one.
Step 1. Choose a solution
first, you need to choose the right tool for your work. In short, there are two solutions to weigh: Termageddon and iubenda.
basically both do the same thing. They provide you with a way to generate a privacy policy that is updated when the law changes. In theory, you only need to generate the privacy policy once and it will be updated.
as to which tool to choose, iubenda is ahead of Termageddon for the average random user. The reasons are as follows:
- is available in more countries (Termageddon is only available in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada).
- Compared with Termageddon’s $99 annual subscription, iubenda’s $29 a year is cheaper.
- iubenda has an excellent set of supporting documentation and knowledge base articles on its website.
takes into account scalability, price, feature set and support, iubenda will be our choice. More importantly, there is a basic free package. In the rest of this article, we will show you how to create a privacy policy using iubenda.
Step 2. Create your privacy policy
first, go to the iubenda website and click to start the build. You will be asked to select the focus of your privacy policy and the company name. If you need help, here’s another video: when
is ready, click the Start generating button and sign up for a free account. You will be taken to your dashboard where you can click the Generate now:
generator under the Privacy and Cookie Policy section to allow you to add modules to your policy based on the collected data. Although you can add elements manually, you can also scan your Web site and automatically populate the privacy policy:
anyway, for each element, you need to select the exact data you collect before saving the changes. When you are finished, click the Save and close button.
finally, click Next and fill in your name, company address and email address:
Clicking Next again will take you to the last part-embedding your privacy policy.
Step 3. Embed it into your website
once you have checked your privacy policy and click Next, you will see a completion screen and a link to embedded instructions. This screen will give you some options, depending on your subscription. For free users, you only need to display a footer gadget:
here, copy the code to the clipboard and return to WordPress. For simplicity, go to Appearance & gt; Widgets, select the Custom HTML gadget, paste your code, and then save your changes: after
checks out the front end, you will see the privacy policy link displayed in the footer:
at this point, you can further customize the gadget button. However, the default setting is cautious and eye-catching– perfect for helping users pay attention to your privacy policy.
Summary
Privacy is one of the many “hot topics” about the relationship between businesses and users. This is because the collected user data can cause serious damage in the hands of the bad guys and run the risk of undermining customer trust.
in this article, we examined three ways to create a privacy policy for your WordPress site. Let’s take a quick look at them:
- completes and publishes the privacy policy found on the WordPress backend.
- uses online tools such as GetTerms.io to create a general privacy policy.
- buys advanced solutions such as iubenda or Termageddon to create and host your privacy policy.
