Do you want to add a privacy policy to your WordPress site?
A privacy policy page is a document required by law that discloses the information you collect about visitors on your website. It is recommended to add a privacy policy page to your website whether you are a blogger, freelancer, or business owner.
Now, the problem is most beginners don’t know how to create a legitimate privacy policy and then display it on their website.
In this article, we will show you how to easily add a privacy policy in WordPress.
What Is a Privacy Policy and Do You Need It on Your Website?
All websites collect information about their visitors in different ways.
In many countries (including the United States), websites are required by law to disclose the information they collect about their visitors, and how this information is used.
Here are some of the ways in which a typical WordPress site collects user information:
- Name and email address in comment forms
- Comment form cookie which remembers a user’s name or email address
- Name and email addresses submitted by user by using a contact form
- Name and email address submitted to sign up for email list
- Information collected when users registeron a website
- Google Analytics tracking
- Facebook page plugin and like buttoncookies
- Other social media platform widgets that track users
- Advertising programs like Google Adsense which track users
All websites on the internet should have a privacy policy page. It protects your business from legal issues and also helps build consumer trust.
You also need to add a privacy policy page to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
For those who don’t know, GDPR is a European Union (EU) law that gives its citizens control over their personal data. This law applies to every business (including WordPress blogs) around the world, even if you are not from the EU countries.
For more details, you may read our ultimate guide on GDPR and understand its impact on your WordPress site.
What Should You Include in a Privacy Policy?
The basic requirements for a privacy policy are quite simple. You need to list all the ways you collect or intend to collect user information on your website.
A simple privacy policy page should contain the following information:
- Information you collect about users visiting your website.
- Methods used to collect information, e.g. cookies and web beacons, sign up, registration, comment forms, etc.
- Mention all third-party advertisers collecting user information on your website like Google Adsense.
- Include links to the privacy policy of each advertising program you participate in.
- How users can block cookies and opt-out of third party advertisements.
- Your contact information so that users can reach out if they have questions.
There are many websites on the internet that allow you to automatically generate text for your privacy policy or terms of service pages.
WordPress itself comes with a basic privacy policy generator that you can use.
You can also take a look at WPBeginner’s privacy policy page as a starting point. Simply replace all references to WPBeginner and our parent company with the name of your website or business.
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