=== GDPR Compliance & Cookie Consent ===
Contributors: gdprcompliancewp
Donate link: https://www.calculator.io/
Tags: gdpr, cookie consent, gdpr compliance, privacy policy, cookie banner
Requires at least: 4.6
Tested up to: 6.5.5
Stable tag: 1.6.1
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

This plugin adds GDPR-compliant cookie management to websites, ensuring legal compliance and enhancing user privacy.

== Description ==

GDPR Compliance and Cookie Consent is a free WordPress plugin designed to safeguard customer privacy and manage personal data responsibly on your website. It offers features such as transparent privacy and cookie policies, GDPR consent checkboxes, cookie blocking functionality, access to consumer data, and options for users to request data deletion. Compatible with WordPress 4.6 and higher, this essential plugin ensures compliance with GDPR standards, enhancing user trust.

## What is GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy in the European Union and the European Economic Area. It also looks after the transfer of personal data outside of these areas.

## GDPR Plugin Features

**Ensure the Right to be Forgotten**
Request to delete all stored data (confirmed by email link);

**Control Data Access**
Dedicated form to request personal data stored on a website;

**GDPR Consent checkboxes**
Add consent boxes for various forms on your website like WordPress Comments and customized contact forms;

**Customizable Options**
Privacy Policy, Terms of Services, Cookie Consent and Email marketing opt-in forms;

**Perfect Integration**
Smooth integration with most popular WordPress plugins;

**Cookie Blocker**
Block all cookies including analytics and advertising networks until formal consent to collect and use your data.

## Who is it for?

From May 25, 2018, all companies with EU citizens as customers who are visiting their website, regardless of the location of the company itself, need to abide by the GDPR rules when handling their personal data.

Information covered by GDPR includes names, user IDs, emails, addresses, contact details, web analytics, IP address, cookies, and other special categories of data (e.g., sensitive, genetic, health, gender, biometric).

This handy GDPR plugin is straightforward to use and makes an excellent addition to any business WordPress website. It allows for any site to be GDPR compliant, and it is compatible with both the regulations and industry best practices. It is a WordPress business user’s best friend.

## How do I use it?

Once installed, you will be able to access the plugin from the main admin menu within WordPress - it is labeled GDPR. From here, you will see that there are four primary tabs: ‘general,’ ‘privacy policy,’ ‘integrated plugins,’ and ‘data access & to be forgotten.’

Under the general tab, you can control all the privacy and cookie consent popups. Here you can opt to enable the popups, choose the cookie consent expiry time (the default being six months), write the messages included in the popups, and manage the colors of the box and the text. Finally, you can designate where the popups will appear on the page at the front end of the website.

In the privacy policy section, you can select the page where your specific policy will be displayed. You can also customize the quick link that can be used to take your customers there so they can see why their data is being collected and how it will be managed.

The integrated plugin section enables you to integrate the GDPR plugin with a range of other popular plugins that can be used to increase the functionality of your website further. The ones that are supported at present include:
* Contact Form 7, which allows you to manage multiple contact forms.
* Gravity Forms which offers the tools necessary for creating powerful contact forms.
* Woocommerce which is designed to allow for e-commerce and online payment.
* BuddyPress which enables the website to be transformed into a social network platform.
* MailChimp, which lets you add signup forms to your website and allow customers to sign up for services.
* WordPress Comments which facilitates interactions by enabling visitors to post comments.

Data access & to be forgotten, the final tab, is a vital section of the plugin. This page is where users are provided with a form to access their data as well as the right to be forgotten. In this case, all collected data will be deleted.

Again this section is fully customizable, you can create your own description, and you can enter your own messages. To enable users to access or delete their own personal data, you can insert a short code to a page or use a special widget.

With each section of the plugin, you will need to click on ‘save changes’ to validate your changes and to ensure that your customizations are applied to your website.

## How do my customers use it?

The GDPR Compliance & Cookie Consent plugin has been carefully designed with the specific goal of protecting the personal data of your customers and other visitors to your website.

While some businesses may need to collect personal or sensitive information due to the nature of the service being provided, ultimately, how this data is handled needs to be at the discretion of the customer. The goal of such GDPR compliance plugins is to give the consumers absolute control of their information.

Such control is achieved here through the use of GDPR consent checkboxes, cookie blockers, and having the right to be forgotten, among other things. As well as providing specific consent for the collection of their data, the customer needs to be made aware of what will happen to it at every stage of proceedings – this is done through the use of a privacy policy.

## Why should I get it?

As previously outlined, from May 25, 2018, every website collecting data from EU residents or citizens need to address GDPR rules. This is a legal requirement for all online businesses, and the penalties for not abiding by such regulations are extremely harsh.

Fines of up to €20 million or up to 4% of the annual worldwide turnover of the preceding financial year in case of an enterprise, whichever is greater, can be applied for not following such rules.

The GDPR Compliance & Cookie Consent WordPress Plugin makes your website compatible with general GDPR regulations. This ensures that both you, the business owner, and your customers who are visiting your site and possibly providing sensitive data are protected under the laws.

== Screenshots ==

1. GDPR
2. Cookie Consent
3. GDPR Compliance
4. Privacy Policy

== Installation ==
1. Upload the plugin files to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory, or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly.
2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' screen in WordPress
3. Set Up Page in Menu -> GDPR.

== Changelog ==

= 1.6 =
* Added default values. Popup enabled by default

= 1.5 =
* Minor bug fix.

= 1.4 =
* Minor bug fix.

= 1.3 =
* Security update.

= 1.2 =
* Minor bug fixes.

= 1.1 =
* WPML Translation bug fixed.
* Minor bug fixes.

= 1.0.1 =
* Contact Form 7 conflict fixed.

= 1.0 =
* First Version of Plugin.
