Important: Not Being GDPR Compliant Can Shut Your Business Down!
Every Website Needs To Be GDPR Compliant Now!
If you are in business you’ve probably already heard about the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) a new law passed by the EU (European Union) that mandates every website to follow some requirements.
Do you REALLY Need To Be GDPR Compliant?
- If people from ANY country in the European Union can visit and interact with your site, you need to be compliant.
- If people from the EU can sign up as leads on your site, or give you their data in any other way, you need to be compliant.
- If your site makes use of any cookies or has any 3rd party integrations that use cookies (Facebook pixel, analytics, etc.) you need to be compliant.
- It doesn’t matter whether you sell anything to EU people or not. If they can access your website, you must be compliant.
If you’ve logged in lately into any big-name website. Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Basecamp, Freshdesk – everyone, yes, everyone has updated their Terms of service and have made changes to the website according to the requirements of GDPR that came into force on May 25th, 2018.
They’ve covered themselves, but have you?
If the answer is no, you’re running a serious risk RIGHT NOW.
The fine for violating these requirements is as high as Euros 20 Million or 4% of your global revenue. Whichever is GREATER. Not only that, you might even be barred from serving any customer from the EU ever again.
GDPR does not require you to be a European citizen, or for you to be a European based business to find you guilty and impose a fine. They can do it even if you’re located across the Pacific ocean and have absolutely no interest in what’s happening in Europe. You don’t even have to sell anything to European customers. If visitors from ANY EU Country can surf your site, you are required to adhere to GDPR rules.
You can’t escape it either, because like it or not, your country has a legal agreement about law enforcement with the EU and all other larger countries.
Even though the GDPR was only implemented on the 25th of May 2018 it has already started to impact marketers and several prominent social networks have already been hit with lawsuits.
The worst (or best if you’re an end-user) is that it pins liability on businesses of all sizes. Not just giants like Facebook and Google, but really small players like you and I too.
If your website is not compliant you could face significant legal costs and hassles that will stop you from focusing on your business. (It takes just one complaint against your business for you to be embroiled in a legal nightmare and mark my words, it won’t take long for lawyers to realise what a gold mine a businesses’ failure to comply with the GDPR is for them!)
If you want to stay in business there’s no escaping GDPR, even in Australia, we HAVE to conform.
There’s NO ALTERNATIVE.
Everyone with a website has to take the journey to GDPR compliance, no matter how small you are, no matter how difficult it is, and no matter how much effort it takes. If you’re running a business that’s online, you’ll need to be GDPR compliant.
If you have a website, it makes good business sense (if you haven’t already done so) to do one of two things ASAP …
1. Do not allow ANY visitors from ANY EU country to access your website.
OR
2. If your site is accepting ANY traffic from ANY EU country you have to comply with GDPR or risk significant fines regardless of where you are based around the world.
This means ensuring that:
- You are compliant with the GDPR Cookie Consent requirement.
- You are compliant with the GDPR Terms & Conditions requirements.
- You are compliant with the GDPR Privacy Policy requirements.
- You are compliant with the GDPR requirements of the Right To Be Forgotten regulation.
- You are compliant with the GDPR requirements of Mandatory Data Access regulation.
- You are compliant with GDPR Data Breach Notification requirements.
- You are compliant with GDPR Data Rectification requirements.
I know it sounds like a big job and it is, but the good news is we are offering an affordable and quick compliance service to anyone with a WordPress website.
For just AU$277 (inc GST) we will implement the following on your website:
When visitors from any country in the EU visit your site they will see a prominent box stating …
“Important GDPR Compliance Notice. Cookies help us deliver our services and so this site makes use of cookies which may contain tracking information about visitors. If you are visiting our site from any EU country, in order to continue to browse this site, according to the GDPR, you must agree to our use of cookies. Please click ‘OK’ in order to continue using this site.”
Only when they click OK will they be able to continue and their IP address and date and time of acceptance will be automatically logged.
GDPR Compliant Terms and Conditions page with ‘Accept’ Tick Box. This page will ONLY be shown to visitors from any EU country. In accordance with the GDPR, EU visitors to your site will be required to tick and accept your Terms and Conditions in order to continue to your Privacy Policy page. Their IP address and date and time of acceptance will be automatically logged.
GDPR Compliant Privacy Policy Page with ‘Accept’ Tick Box. This page will ONLY be shown to visitors from any EU country. In accordance with the GDPR, EU visitors to your site will be required to tick and accept in order to continue to browse your site. Their IP address and date and time of acceptance will be automatically logged.
A ‘Data Request’ Page where any visitor to your site can request the following and they will be automatically emailed the information they have requested. The page will include:
- Data Access Request
- Forget Data Request
- Rectify Data Request
- Unsubscribe Request
These pages will all be added to your website menus so they are easily accessible by visitors to your website.
If this service is of interest to you, please contact us and we will get started straight away so you can have peace of mind that your site at least meets the above GDPR requirements.
DISCLAIMER
Whilst we will implement the 7 GDPR requirements listed above on your WordPress website, it may not be enough to cover the unique compliance needs of your particular business. Therefore, once we have made all the changes listed above, we recommend you consult a professional privacy or GDPR consultant to make sure your business practices and site structure complies with GDPR and implement any extra measures if required.
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