A guide to ensuring your business website is GDPR compliant
With the coming into force of the GDPR on 25th May 2018, time has almost run out for ensuring your business is GDPR compliant. While many businesses have worked hard at ensuring that the actual operation of their business is compliant, some have not yet considered the implications for their website.
The underlying principle of the GDPR is that consent for data processing must be freely and specifically given. This will have a profound effect on digital marketing, including website design. Further details on the GDPR precise requirements, and how to comply with them, are available from the Information Commissioner’s Office.
GDPR compliance for business websites
There are several points to consider when ensuring your business website complies with the GDPR.
Privacy notices
You must update your website’s terms and conditions to reflect the terminology of the GDPR. Specifically, this means explaining what you will do with the information once you have it and how long you will keep it.
Opt-ins
Any website forms that invite users to subscribe to email updates, newsletters or similar, or to indicate their contact preferences, must either be left blank or default to “no”. Acceptance of terms and conditions must be separated from an opt-in for contact consent. In addition, website users should be able to provide separate consents for different types of contact.
Talk to your website design company
If you use an external web design company, it is a good idea to talk to them about your GDPR concerns. First, this ensures that they share your focus on ensuring GDPR compliance. Secondly, professional agencies, such as http://craigpauldesign.co.uk/websites/, should be able to assist you in ensuring that you have made all the necessary changes to your website.
If you do not currently have an external web designer, it may be worth considering whether now is a good time to bring one on board. They are located not only in major cities but also in smaller centres of business. For example, a careful search should throw up as good and professional a marketing agency in Cheltenham or Chester as in London or Birmingham.
Remember: your website is only the start
When it comes to the GDPR, looking at your website is a great way of signposting other areas of the business that may need tweaking to ensure compliance.
