In here we are going to cover a bit of legal basis for our pages whether on WordPress or other sites, but mostly WordPress. This is specially because of a little big law passed by the European Union about a year ago, more specifically on May 25 of 2018. The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR for short. We will discuss which is the best GDPR Plugin for WordPress
The GDPR Plugin for Wordpress Popups
As I am sure you’ve noticed by now, almost every online site that you visit has a pop up that let’s you know that the site uses cookies, and sometimes it works more like a check box than a simple notice. This is all because of the GDPR, the European Union decided it was high time for the people to have more “control” over their personal information being on the internet.
Also due to the increasing number of public cases where people, or whistleblowers, denounce that the publics personal information it’s being taken and sold without their consent. So a debate opened up as to who has the rights of the information… And the winner was… The people!
Or so we’d like to say, in reality this regulation forces any organization, enterprise or private person to comply with it, so long as it has anything to do with the European Union, so yeah, basically everyone will be adopting this standard. Fines for breaking it or not following it can range from thousands of Euros up to millions if a judge so sees it fit.
It affects everyone handling data, both parties, the one that processes the data and the Host of it. It forces anonymity for its users and if it should not be the case then it forces the page or system to notify everyone that it doesn’t. Otherwise be ready for a hefty fine and the seizing of all the pertinent information.
In more depth the Host of the data has to declare how and why the personal data it holds from others, will be used, so this by technical definition would be your WordPress site. Your plugins, playing the part of the processor, work with the data. This could be anything from a simple IP tracking to geolocation and any input you place in the site, answers to quizzes (Yeah buzzfeed we see you) and more since even online identifiers are now treated as personal data. Also anything that might give away your real identity will be considered as personal and therefore subject to GDPR.
Displaying GDPR Plugin for Wordpress
But ok, ok, it’s actually not a big deal if you follow the law, basically all you have to do it’s put a poster, that will open with each new visit, that says “hey we use cookies around here so be aware of that, if you don’t like it click here”. Well it’s easier said than done, in effect you have to notify the user that’s his or hers information will be used. If the user doesn’t like it then you have to make sure not to take any data from that particular address.
The thing is, with so many plugins that get metrics and mine for information actively, how can you control them all at the same time for every new user on your site? Easy! Get another plugin that does the job for you!
So, with that in mind we have some very good recommendations for you to keep abiding the law in your WordPress page.
Here are Three Examples of GDPR Plugin for WordPress
#1 MonsterInsights: GDPR Plugin for WordPress
With over 2 million install this is a very professional, popular and reliable tool for analytics and metrics in your WordPress site, it offers an easy and almost direct connection to google analytics that will help you keep track of near everything that passes through your website, and as we’ve discussed will make you subject to GDPR.
But don’t worry, as of now this plugin is compatible with the GDPR, if you use it you can automatically anonymize the personal data tracking, or even disable it! If you do want to track the data, as many sites do and should when it comes to metrics. There’s a checkbox for consent that will make the plugin and any data tracking wait for the user’s approval before it begins to track any data at all.
This means that, again, it will not load any kind of analytic script until the user has given it’s consent. Should the person change opinion on whether it wants its information tracked or not, there’s even an option to revoke the privilege that will force the plugin to delete the data from that user.
Granted this is way more than just a compliance plugin for your site and the pricing surely agrees with this, as it’s not a free plugin, it has paid plans that range from 100$ to 800$ (When there are no offers for any of them).
#2 Cookie Notice GDPR Plugin for WordPress
Don’t worry this IS a free one, Cookie notice is a simple, complete and reliable compliance plugin that will make you site feel safer and on point with the GDPR. It allows you to create a custom message for your users that will notify them of the cookies you’re using.
It does allow the user to opt-out of the tracking being able to deactivate the personal information tracking for that particular user, one of the coolest features is that is able to redirect the user to another page where you can explain in full detail what cookies are you using and how they work.
If you’re not sure if the people will trust you with their info or your site looks a bit shady and want to clear everything to your users, this is the perfect plugin for that.
Also, will leave you a more complete list of features…
#3 Shared Counts GDPR Plugin for WordPress
Well this is a very standard compliance plugin, but it’s a little bit more than that, it gives the option to share any post with a social media accounts without relating them to the user in question. This plugin doesn’t wait for the consent of the user before taking any social media info from them, this is because it simply doesn’t use or keep any!
Very simple, very user friendly and customizable. It now gives the option for more social media sites than ever. If you install it you should see something like this.
#4 GDPR Cookie Consent GDPR Plugin for WordPress
Well the name says it all right? Yeah this is pretty much a favorite of the public when it comes to compliance plugins, it doesn’t do all the work for you, but it does make it a lot easier, when you’re developing your page and you chose cookies you can add two options, basically “this cookie will activate if x value it’s set to yes otherwise it won’t” well that’s the gist of it basically.
What the plugin actually does is ask the user whether it wants full anonymity or not, and in each case will return a value that in turn is the one that will decide which cookies activate on your site.
It has over 500.000 installs, making it a popular and simple plugin to help your site be GDPR compliant.
Some of its other features are
#5 Limit Login Attempts Reloaded GDPR Plugin for WordPress
Here we have a more security-oriented plugin for your site, by default WordPress allows any amount of login attempts from any computer, this makes the system vulnerable to brute-force cracking attacks with relative ease.
This is especially the case for some of the WordPress plugins that do make your password, or the ones of your users, more vulnerable.
With this plugin you can simply regulate the number of attempts, per IP address and the number of attempts from authorization cookies, over a certain number per minute. You can also tell the user how much tries are still available.
#6 WPForms GDPR Plugin for WordPress
This plugin will allow you to generate a contact form for your users, but will do so by notifying them about the cookies you use, and if they opt for it the plugin can even disable cookies, tracking and geolocation.
It can also stop collecting the IP’s from any user, this is fully GDPR compliant and it provides a very stylish contact form for your site, it uses a drag and drop approach to build the forms and it provides a ton of features. The downside… it’s a paid plugin, with a price range from 80$ up to even 400.
Well this is it for now fellas, keep in mind that the GDPR is mandatory if you want to do any business or relation with any person or company in the EU via your site and do so within the full extend of the law, so be safe avoid any fines and use a GDPR compliance plugin.