eCommerce Privacy Podcast with BobWP

I sat down with BobWP to record a privacy podcast about common Privacy and GDPR and eCommerce issues facing online businesses and their owners.

We discussed issues like:

• How much can we rely on the privacy updates that came with WordPress 4.9?
• Can the do-it-yourselfer handle it themselves?
• What are two of the most overlooked areas of privacy?
• How do you maintain your privacy policy?
• How can developers protect themselves from issues involving client-built sites?
• What else would you like to add to the conversation about privacy?

WordPress, Privacy, and Your Online Store

The WordPress 4.9.6 release included privacy tools to assist online businesses with GDPR and privacy compliance, but they are privacy baselines to start from when working toward GDPR compliance and should not be relied upon as your sole mechanisms for compliance.

For instance, the Privacy Policy included in core is not specific to your business’s operations, plug-ins, vendors, hosting, and needs. You should have a Privacy Policy drafted by an attorney familiar with eCommerce and Privacy laws to ensure your Privacy Policy properly addresses these issues.

Privacy compliance is not a one-time, do it and forget it, kind of thing. Compliance requires maintenance. You should revisit your online contracts and policies, at least once a year to ensure they remain consistent with what your business is actually doing, revised for changes in plug-ins, vendors, and applicable laws.

The GDPR and ePrivacy Directive offer some B2B exceptions for direct mailing and the “soft opt-in” exception which means consent is implied if you are sending a marketing message about your (not an affiliate or third party) similar products and services to your customers/clients or those you have negotiated with to provide products or services, as long as:

• You give them the opportunity to opt-out when you receive their contact information; and
• You give them the opportunity to opt-out when you send them subsequent messages.

If you or your business need privacy consulting or assistance with your online business legal needs, contact Kinney Firm to schedule your consultation.