GDPR: Decoding the hype and ensuring compliance
A shadow of gloom has been cast in the online space off late, courtesy the deadline for compliance with GDPR.
So much ink has been spilled, with prophecies of varying degrees making the rounds, that it’s no wonder that online businesses are petrified of it.
The most notable one is that non-compliance can lead to fines up to twenty million Euros. Whew!
We were trembling too, until a few weeks ago.
Each day, we were receiving hundreds of emails from service providers touting how their privacy policies had been updated to comply with GDPR and how we must act fast before the deadline approaches.
Almost made it sound like our online business was going to crash overnight.
After going through some of those emails, which sounded ominous, we decided to do our research and decode the GDPR Hype.
Guess what we found? There’s no reason to be paranoid.
GDPR is not the monster that it is touted to be. It’s far from it.
Instead, it is a set of rules that were already in place, which have now been harmonized and collated to hand over a set of much needed privacy rights to customers.
Today, we will help you go beyond the hype and understand what GDPR is all about.
Even better, we will help you get GDPR-Compliant in just a few simple clicks. Yes, we promise!
What is GDPR?
GDPR stands for the ‘General Data Protection Regulation’, a new set of data protection laws in the European Union that came into effect on May 25th 2018. Despite Brexit, the regulations will be applicable in the United Kingdom as well.
It replaces the old and obsolete ‘Data Protection Directive’ that was in practice since 1995 and it affects each and every privacy protection law in Europe.
The world has undergone a sea of change in the past twenty years and it is only fair that privacy laws should be updated taking into account the current technology and business standards.
In layman’s terms, it is a tediously long document that contains 99 articles crammed with legal jargon that all talk about how a business must ensure that their customers private data, that might be collected during various stages of a business transaction or during business communications, is protected.
That’s GDPR in a nutshell.
But what makes it so effective for customers is that it gives them complete control over their privacy.
For example, they can request that all their collected and stored data, that are no longer relevant or accurate be deleted. It’s called ‘The right to be forgotten’.
They can also transfer some of their existing data from one business to the other.
Like we said, the customer gets complete control over their privacy.
What does it mean for businesses?
Coming to the most important question that’s been bothering everybody on the internet, how does it affect you?
Does it affect you even only if your business is in Europe?
Or does it affect you even if you are in the US or China or anywhere else in the world?
Does it require you to make expensive changes to your business set up?
What exactly does GDPR compliance mean?
There are two important things that come into mind over here.
For businesses based in the EU, there are no two ways around it. You must already be GDPR compliant since the deadline has long passed. (We will talk about compliance shortly)
For businesses based outside the EU, the rules are slightly tricky. As long as you have a web presence and you market your products all over the globe, chances are that someone from the EU (a customer or a visitor) may login to your website and participate in a marketing survey or even purchase something from you. You have to ensure that the data collected in either of these situations is protected ensuring GDPR compliance. If the customer/visitor is from the EU, you need to update your privacy policy to GDPR compliant.
That’s what’s mentioned in Article 3 of the GDPR. However, this organization would have to use targeted marketing to bring in traffic from the EU. If the website specifically mentions that it’s solely for US customers and a visitor from the EU finds the website using Google or Facebook, then they won’t be protected under GDPR.
Key takeaways for businesses outside EU:
- If you accept EU currency on the website, your privacy policy, website data talk about EU customers or you rely on targeted marketing for EU customers, then you have to be GDPR compliant.
- The only way to prevent some of the steep fines may be to block traffic from the EU altogether, which isn’t the most sensible business decision that you will make.
This includes most global businesses in the travel, e-commerce and software space. That’s millions of businesses.
How do you get GDPR compliant?
Once again, there are two ways to do this.
You either hire a lawyer who specializes in EU-based privacy laws and can completely update your privacy laws. This can cost your business thousands of dollars if not more. You will then have to design a bunch of workflows and systems that comply with the new laws. These will cost you a few thousand dollars more.
Or, you download this amazing new WordPress Plugin called ‘WP GDPR Fix’’ that allows you to ensure compliance with GDPR in a few simple clicks.
How does WP GDPR Fix work?
WP GDPR Fix is a downloadable WordPress Plugin that installs in less than 30 seconds and makes your WordPress blog, E-Commerce website or custom WordPress installation GDPR compliant.
- It automatically updates your Terms & Conditions which seeks consent from your visitors about GDPR.
- It automatically updates your Privacy Policy and seeks consent from your visitors informing them about the changes that you have made to it.
- It automatically makes your website compliant with the famed ‘Right to Forget’ law, essentially allowing you to delete customer data upon request.
- It allows you to narrow down and isolate customer data keeping compliance with the ‘Right to data’ article.
- It collects Data Rectification requests and notifies the admin
- It collects Data access requests and notifies the admin
- You get a GDPR Compliant Lead Grab System
- You give the customers an option to opt out from your website altogether and allows you to quickly delete the users who have opted out.
- It lets you broadcast notifications about data breaches globally, ensuring compliance with the ‘Data breach notification’ article of GDPR
- Or if you just want to avoid the hassles altogether, it allows you to completely block all traffic from the EU.
- All of these legal documents are drafted by expert Privacy Protection lawyers from the EU. These are not some automated robotic crap drafted by software.
Who can benefit by downloading the WP GDPR Fix?
We’ll be honest here.
WP GDPR Fix is not a do-it-all that will instantly make all businesses GDPR complaint. But if you are an organization that uses a WordPress website to do one of the following, then it is hands down the easiest way to progress towards compliance with GDPR.
It uses one of the most important and widely discussed aspects of GDPR compliance, ‘Consent’
- You have a WordPress blog that attracts traffic from the EU
- You have a corporate website on the WordPress platform
- You are collecting leads on your WordPress blog via opt-in forms, other tools or plugins
- Visitors from the EU can comment on your WordPress blog/site
- You are using Analytics or Facebook Pixels to track user behavior on your site
- You are running an E-Commerce store on WordPress
WP GDPR Fix allows you to save tons of time, money and effort that you would otherwise spend in writing expensive code or hiring lawyers.
More importantly, it reflects positively on your potential customers, particularly from the EU.
GDPR compliance is like a vote of confidence that speaks about the efforts that you are taking to ensure that the customer’s private data is protected.
For a global business or an MNC, this is the easiest way to work with your partners in the EU saving yourself from all the hassles and the tedious fines that everybody has been petrified of.
What does the WP GDPR Fix cost?
That’s the best part.
WP GDPR Fix is available for a throwaway price of $23 for a single site license and $27 for an unlimited website license.
Trust us on this, that’s a negligible charge for something that can save you thousands (if not millions) of dollars down the road.
They have a great customer support team available 24×7 on Live Chat, Ticket systems and even on Skype and TeamViewer to answer any questions that you may have about the plugin.
And if all of that wasn’t enough, it comes with a 100% money back guarantee for 30 days. If you feel that the plugin isn’t worth it for some reason, then you get your money back. No questions asked.
What do you have to lose?
Do yourself a favor and buy the WP GDPR Fix. Prices are touted to go up in the next few weeks as demand for this plugin skyrockets.
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The easiest and most affordable towards becoming GDPR Compliant – Get yours today
