The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) enacted by the European Union in the Spring of 2018 has caused a strong movement across the U.S. to comply with its policy, even though it applies only to the rights of European users. Most think that a U.S. law mirroring the regulations will be enacted at some point, and there is always a chance that a European user will come across and interact with your website as well.
As a result, your website should have a Privacy Policy page and a link to it in the navigation element or footer of every page.
THE WORDPRESS PRIVACY POLICY:
WordPress (which is what 21Thirteen Design uses to make 95% of our clients’ websites) now includes a Privacy Policy page as a standard part of its structure. It can be accessed by going to the Settings tab in the dashboard. Once there you can click a button which will create a generic Privacy Policy page.
It can be easily edited. There is also an included link near the top of the page to take you to a Guide page for your Privacy Policy.
RESPONSIBILITY:
You are the only one who can be responsible for editing this page so that it is in compliance with the current U.S. legal requirements or best practices.
We cannot advise you on what should or shouldn’t be on your Privacy Policy page. Our best advice is to consult a lawyer. If you feel that is not necessary or feasible for you, we recommend that you at least use the Guide page, or be safer by using the services of an online Privacy Policy generator that will come much closer to individualizing the policies for your specific needs. Three recommended free providers (some with better paid versions) can be found on 21Thirteen’s blog post entitled “A Little Privacy, Please” at https://21thirteen.com/a-little-privacy-please/ .
SSL:
An SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate is also highly recommended. A site that uses SSL will say “https” instead of “http” at the beginning of its address. It encrypts information being uploaded to your website, such as a credit card payment, form submission, or comment on your blog. It enhances the security of your site, and Google has been campaigning for quite some time now to get all websites to use this protocol.
If you have any questions or need help with a Privacy Policy page, or need and SSL cert on your site, reach out to us for more at hello@21thirteen.com or 781 886 6050.
