How Do I Make My WordPress eCommerce Store GDPR Cookie Compliant?

EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been the model for every other privacy regulation globally and, in many respects, the benchmark under which many countries established their regulations. 

If you collect personal data on your website using cookies and tracking scripts, contact forms, and sign-up forms, you should obtain explicit consent from site visitors. Among these, cookies could be a massive risk for being GDPR-compliant, as they collect users’ data without their knowledge. 

Sometimes, you may also not be aware of the cookies active on your website. This is why you need a cookie compliance tool for your website to comply with GDPR. 

So, without dwelling much on it, let’s get to the point.

How Can Cookies Put Your GDPR Compliance at Risk?

Now, let’s see how cookies can put your GDPR compliance at risk.

1. Lack of Transparency: Cookies normally collect information about the visitor quietly in the background. As per the GDPR, businesses should inform the users of the kind of data that would be collected, for what purpose, and for how much time the data would be retained.
2. Lack of Consent: Cookies generally run without the users’ explicit consent, and this is one primary reason why cookies usually happen to be in the offense of GDPR.
3. Third-party cookies/advertising and tracking scripts: Most websites employ cookies and tracking scripts to track user activity across the web and sell that data to advertisers for the purpose of retargeting. These third parties are GDPR-compliant, and websites will ensure cookies by them do not infringe on users’ privacy.
4. Longer Retention Periods: According to law, even the personal data collected by cookies must be retained for only a necessary duration.
5. Poor Cookie Banners: The simple fact you’ve put up a cookie banner isn’t going to be necessary enough to meet GDPR guidelines. The consent should be specific and clear with affirmative action. Tricking users to grant consent or hiding the reject button will risk your compliance.

How Do I Make My WordPress eCommerce Store GDPR Cookie Compliant?

Cookie Consent Banners help you obtain visitor consent prior to having any cookies downloaded in their browsers. The banner MUST include ‘accept’ and ‘reject’ buttons, ensuring that a user can have control over the cookies and scripts they agree to.

What a Good GDPR-Compliant Cookie Banner Must Include?

Following are some key elements that should be included in a GDPR-compliant cookie banner:

• Opt-In Type of Consent: Show that no third-party cookies can track a user on your website until they agree.
• Cookie Consent Notice: Clearly tell the site users, by using the cookie banner, about all the different types of cookies, their purposes, and how long they will be stored.
• Automated Translation: The wording in the cookie banner should automatically translate to the user’s desired language.
• Categorization: The cookies should be categorized based on their functions, and the banner should show the cookie list.
• Granular Control: Allows users to give their consent to the cookies at a more granular level.
• Accept/Reject Buttons: The accept and reject buttons should be clearly visible.
• Revisit Consent: Allow the user to easily revisit and change their consent settings.
• Policy Pages Link: A link to your privacy policy and cookie policy.
• Mobile Responsive: The cookie banner should be supported on mobiles and allow users to navigate easily.
• Consent Log Record: Maintain an audit log of user consents. This can be saved as proof of consent.

How to Create a GDPR Cookie Banner in WordPress?

The best and easiest way to create a GDPR-compliant cookie banner is to use the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin by WebToffee. A native WordPress plugin can be very helpful in easing cookie compliance for WordPress websites.

Here is how you can show a GDPR cookie banner in WordPress.

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

• Purchase the plugin and download the plugin file from the My Account page.
• Then, log in to your WordPress dashboard and upload the file under Plugins >Add New Plugin.
• Install and Activate the plugin.

Step 2: Install a GDPR Cookie Banner

Visit your Dashboard and go to Cookie Consent > Cookie Banner. Select GDPR for Consent Law and then select the Enable cookie banner checkbox. You may further turn on Geo-targeting if you want to show the GDPR banner to visitors from the EU. Enhanced features regarding IAB TCF and Google Consent Mode can be further enabled if needed.

Step 3: Configure the Cookie Banner Layout

In the Layout tab, choose the bottom banner style for your cookie banner and select a design for the Cookie Preference Centre.

Step 4: Customize The Cookie Banner

Customize the buttons, text, and message of the banner with the elements option in the Content & Colors tab. Do not forget to click on the Update settings to save the changes.

Step 5: Scan Your Website For Cookies

• Visit the Manage Cookies tab and go to Cookie Scanner.
• Run the cookie scanner, and then the plugin will scan the cookies and categorize them based on their purposes.
• It will automatically disable third-party cookies until the user consents to them.

Step 6: Create a Cookie Policy

• Go to the Cookie Policy tab.
• Edit and publish your cookie policy on your WordPress website.

Enable the cookie policy link in the Content & Colors section under Cookie Notice.

Here is a preview of the cookie banner on a WordPress eCommerce website. 

WebToffee GDPR Cookie Consent Plugin

WebToffee’s GDPR Cookie Consent Plugin is a Google-certified CMP for WordPress websites. It lets you comply with global data privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA for cookie usage on your website. The plugin lets you put a GDPR-compliant cookie banner on your website and obtain consent from your site visitors. 

Using the advanced cookie scanner tool within the plugin, you can scan and identify the cookies on your website. The plugin will then categorize the cookies based on their purpose and will disable all third-party cookies until the user grants consent. 

This WordPress cookie plugin can be integrated with Google Consent Mode (GCM) v2 and IAB TCF to ensure consent management with the latest privacy standards. You can continue using Google’s ads and analytical services without risking your compliance with GDPR. 

Additional features of this plugin include a cookie policy generator that provides a template for creating a cookie policy for your website and a consent log report that saves the consent details of your site visitors. 

Key features of this plugin include:

• Automatic cookies/script blocker
• Implicit and explicit consent mechanism
• Integration with GCM and IAB TCF
• Fully customizable cookie banner
• Advanced cookie scanner 
• Granular cookie consent

Conclusion

Compliance with GDPR should be easy if you keep overseeing how you handle the data of your users. This guide will help make sure your use of cookies on your WordPress eCommerce site complies with the GDPR standard. 

I hope this article has helped you understand how to ensure GDPR cookie compliance for your WordPress eCommerce store.