Photo (above): Photographer: Cebi Umit Visual Storyteller
What is GDPR?
GDPR in full means General Data Protection Regulation and is also known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This is a set of rules to better protect the privacy of European citizens. The aim of GDPR is to provide higher protection for natural persons, when processing their data.
Legal obligations
There are a number of mandatory statements that should be on your website, even if the customer or visitor does not have the option to purchase directly from your webpage. So be sure to include the following on your website:
The name of your company
The legal form (if it is a company, state its registered office)
The address of your company
The e-mail address (if the company has one)
The general terms and conditions of the company
The main characteristics of the business activity
If your website uses cookies, you must inform the customer of this
Your company number and VAT number
The prices of your services
Your professional liability insurance
Your professional organisation or trade association
Your licence, if you are subject to it
And very important; if you process data of your visitors and/or customers, you should also mention this privacy policy on your website
You should also mention these legal obligations on your social media pages. Think of Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Additional information can be included in your General Terms and Conditions, or in the footer of your website.
Privacy policy
Do you process your customers' or visitors' data on your website? This is the case, for instance, when visitors are given the opportunity to fill in a contact form. Then you are obliged to clearly state this privacy policy on your website. You should also describe why you collect and process this data. Finally, you also need to be able to guarantee that this data is processed and stored in a safe manner, and is not simply passed on to third parties.
Cookies
Cookies are small text files that a website puts on the hard disk of a computer when the consumer visits the website. The main function of cookies is to distinguish one user from another. Do you use cookies on your website? If so, it is mandatory to ask your customer/visitor for permission to place non-essential cookies. You must clearly inform consumers which cookies you place via a cookie policy. These non-essential cookies may only be activated if the consumer has given explicit permission for this (e.g. by clicking whether he or she agrees). Essential cookies are cookies that are necessary for your website to function properly. Without these cookies, the website no longer works, so it is not mandatory to ask permission for these.
Sanctions in case of violation
It is very important to be in order with these minimum entries, and to inform your visitors as well as possible. This way, you will avoid any penalties.
Good luck with GDPR-proofing your website!
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