The GDPR and WordPress: How Does the GDPR Affect Your Website?

Living in Vermont and building/operating websites, do you need to care about the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) - and other similar privacy legislation?

On May 25, 2018, the GDPR took effect with the intent of strengthening privacy protection for an individual's data - for all people within the EU. It provides strict controls on what kind of "personal data" can be collected and how that data can be handled. And the GDPR also can impose substantial fines for companies that do not comply with the GDPR. But wait, you say, you don't do any business with Europeans? Maybe you don't ... but if you have visitors to your website from the EU, you need to understand what you need to do to be in compliance with the GDPR.

Do you have forms where people can enter their email address? For instance, to subscribe to a newsletter? Do you use website analytics? If so, you need to understand your responsibilities.

In this discussion, Dan York (who is NOT a lawyer) will talk about some of what he learned in the process of preparing his organization's web sites for the GDPR. He will also highlight the work of the WordPress community to help site owners comply with the GDPR. (He will also gladly welcome others contributing their experience!)

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Dan York lives in Shelburne, VT, and remotely manages the team responsible for the content on the websites of the Internet Society, a global nonprofit organization based in Reston, Virginia, and Geneva Switzerland. He has been working with web sites since the early 1990s and with WordPress since 2005. More information can be found at http://danyork.me