Privacy policy is a term that we constantly encounter in our daily lives when we browse various websites on a regular basis, but we do not pay attention to its meaning and its great importance on our website. But the topic is becoming increasingly important and necessary to be familiar with and apply when it comes to website owners.
If you want to learn more about the interpretation of the term privacy policy as an ordinary user, you have come to the right place. If you own a WordPress website and want to build a privacy policy page for your site, do not worry. We will discuss all aspects related to the topic today in our article.
What is the privacy policy?
All websites on the Internet collect information about any user who visits them, and this information is necessary in order to provide their services in the best possible way. This information varies in type and quantity from one site to another, and increases especially on e-commerce sites, search engines, and social media platforms. The most common information collected by websites is: name, address, email, location, and IP address. This is where the privacy policy comes into play.
The privacy policy is a legal document through which the site fully declares the method, type, quantity, and method of storing, sharing, and protecting the private data that the site collects about users who use its services. The purpose of this statement is to guarantee the right of users to accept or reject the collection of their private data, in addition to knowing all the data that is collected about them and why it is used. All in order to protect the privacy of users’ data on the Internet.
It is necessary to have a privacy policy page on your website
Newly established website owners tend to ignore creating a privacy policy page on their sites, thinking that it is not important, or that no one will care about its existence in the beginning, especially; But unfortunately this is completely wrong. Here are the most important reasons why your site should have a privacy policy page right now:
Legally required
Perhaps the most important reason for you to place the privacy policy as a cornerstone of your site is that you are legally obligated to do so, and you may even be punished if you do not do so. Many countries around the world require that your privacy policy be displayed to users who visit your site, especially if you collect their data. Among the most famous countries that have enacted laws to regulate privacy policy are:
- The European Union and its famous law known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) .
- The United States does not have privacy policy laws, but California has its own laws.
- Australia has also established basic principles for user data collection.
Even if you are outside the mentioned countries, or if your country does not have laws related to the privacy policy; These laws still apply to you and you must apply them. If things get worse, God forbid, these countries can sue you based on their laws and impose sanctions on your site.
Necessary for the functioning of third party applications
Third Party Apps are something everyone relies on to provide their sites with the services their users need. Some of these applications do not work without the site that will benefit from their services having a privacy policy. The most important applications that need this are:
- Google Adsense is the most popular application in the field of adding ads to websites and making money from them.
- Google Analytics is an important application to know all the data related to your site’s performance.
- Social media integration with your site needs to have a privacy policy as well.
- If you want to design an application for smartphones – Android and iPhone – linked to your website, you must have a privacy policy before publishing it on the official stores of Google and Apple.
Its importance to users
Users want to know why their private data is being stored, and what specific data is being stored; Some of them may feel uncomfortable knowing your home address, for example. Therefore, you are not only legally obligated to establish a privacy policy for your site, but you also have a duty to do so in order to gain the trust of users by showing complete transparency when it comes to their data.
In addition, when you show that you fully appreciate and understand users’ concerns about their data privacy, this will push them to accept your data collection even if they are against the idea at first.
Everyone does it
It has become clear how important it is for your website to have its own privacy policy, even if not all the previous reasons have convinced you of its importance. We invite you to follow the example of international sites that consider the privacy policy to be a detailed matter. Even if you never collect any data about your visitors, it’s important to create a page that’s short and concise.
Contents of the privacy policy page
The privacy policy of each site differs from the other depending on the nature of the business, the location of its management and clients, and the laws of the region. However, it can be noted that there are common points that all website privacy policies share; Those points are:
Personal information: Logically, the privacy policy should explain what personal data about users is collected, such as name, address, and email.
Method of collecting data: Informing users about the mechanism of collecting their data is important. For example, you can mention how you track their activities on the site, and how you obtain their IP addresses, in addition to their geographical location.
Purpose of data collection: Now users want to know what their data will be used for. You might explain to them that you use it to improve the user experience on your site, such as collecting it to send packages if you are an online store. Or it will be shared with other apps and sites, or maybe you will sell it!
Maintaining data security: You must reassure users that you strive to keep their data safe from unauthorized use, by stating how you do this. With the emphasis that it is not possible to guarantee this 100%, so that you do not run into legal problems if your site is hacked.
Third-party applications: It is important that you mention all the third-party applications that you deal with, and also provide direct links to the privacy policy of those applications.
Cookies: If you use cookies on your site and store them on the client’s device, you must mention this and specify what they are, and how long they will remain on your device.
Giving the user the choice: You must make it clear to the users through the privacy policy that they have the option not to consent to privacy, or to reduce data collection powers if available. You should also explain the consequences of doing so, as you may not be able to provide the best experience for them without collecting their data.
Contact information: Finally, you must give users the option to contact you if they have any inquiries, and this is usually done by placing a link that takes them to the “Contact Us” page, which we previously prepared a full explanation of how to create.
Publish a privacy policy page on your website
WordPress makes it easy to add a privacy policy page to your site. All you have to do is log in to your site’s control panel and go to “ Settings ” and then to “ Privacy .”
You will have two main options: either “ create ” a new page or use a previous page created previously from the page list. You will also see the option to “ Edit ” or “ Preview ” if you already have a privacy policy page on your WordPress site.
In this article, we will explain how to create a privacy policy page for the first time. So we will choose the “Create” new page option. We will then move to the section on creating a new page in WordPress, noting that there is a pre-prepared template for the content that the privacy policy page should contain, prepared by WordPress.
You will find sections in the ready-made WordPress template, to help you organize your thoughts while writing the privacy policy. The sections included in the ready-made WordPress template are:
- who are we.
- comments.
- Media.
- Cookies.
- Embedded content from other websites.
- With whom we share your data.
- How long do we retain your data?
- What rights do you have over your data?
- Where we send your data.
If you want to design the privacy policy page with high professionalism using all the capabilities that WordPress offers you, in addition to fully understanding the details of page formatting and adding components of all kinds, including media, texts, etc.; All you have to do is check out our article: Explanation of the Gutenburg component editor for adding articles and pages .
Advice for setting a privacy policy on your site
The best practice for placing a link to the privacy policy is in the footer section of the page . The vast majority of websites of all kinds do this, and it is the first place users will search for it. It must also be easily and clearly accessible across all pages of your site.
You can also remind users of the privacy policy elsewhere on the site, including the login page, or in settings in the case of apps. Some sites also require users to agree to the privacy policy before registering in them, in order to ensure the user’s full approval of all their privacy policies before using their services, and in this way they also protect themselves legally.
How to add a privacy policy page to the footer
The simplest way to place a link to the privacy policy page in the footer of the site is through widgets. You must first create a list by going to “ Appearance ” and choosing “ Lists .” Then you can add a name to the list and then click “ Save List .”
Then choose the privacy policy page you created previously from the list of pages, “ Show all ,” and choose “ Add to list .” You can add the “About Us” and “ Contact Us ” pages and any other pages you want to add to the footer of the site, with the ability to arrange their locations in the footer if you wish. After completing, click “ Save List .”
Then go to “ Appearance ” and then to “ Widgets ”. On this page, you will find a widget called “ Footer ” that represents the contents of the site’s footer.
On the right side, you will find a list called “ Available Widgets ”, from which you can click on the “ Menus ” widget and choose to add it to the “ Footer ”.
Now in the “ Footer ”, click on the “ Menus ” widget, select the list you just created, and then click “ Save ”.
congrats! Your site now contains a link to the privacy policy page for any site visitors who want to view it.
In the end, do not overlook the importance of this page as one of the basic pages in the structure of your website
