9 Best GDPR Plugins Compared

Have you ever heard anything about the GDPR? All websites worldwide that collect data related to people in the European Union need to be GDPR compliant. And although it might sound like a vigorous process to bring a site up to European standards, it’s actually quite a simple process. So if you are looking for a quick and simple way to make your WordPress site GDPR compliant, then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll go through the best WordPress GDPR plugins to ensure your site is compliant. But before going into the list, let’s discuss some basic concepts of GDPR.

What is GDPR?

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a law introduced by the European Union (EU) in May 2018. The regulation and law address the export of personal data outside the EU as well as providing more control to the citizens and residents over their own personal data. i.e, it protects the user’s privacy and gives control of personal data back to EU citizens. GDPR has changed how companies collect, store, and process the personal information of their users. 

How does GDPR affect your site?

Even if you’re not from the European Union, if you have website traffic coming from the EU, you fall under this regulation and you could be fined abundantly for not complying with it. There are heavy fines and penalties put forth by the EU for businesses that don’t meet GDPR requirements. Organizations can face fines up to 4% of their annual global revenue or pay €20 million, whichever is higher. 

As per GDPR, you must obtain proper consent from EU citizens before collecting or processing any of their personal information. This, of course, causes a problem since most website owners use Google Analytics to track user ID / hashed personal data, IP addresses, cookies, and other behavioural profiling event data. And, if you don’t have consent, you cannot share any of that information with any of your Remarketing/Advertising (Google Adwords) accounts. If you do, you would be fined.

Best GDPR Plugins

1. CookieYes GDPR Cookie Consent

CookieYes GDPR Cookie Consent plugin is made for ensuring your website compliant with the GDPR regulation. This is one of the fast-growing GDPR plugins in the WordPress directory and it comes with a variety of settings to make your site compliant. 

You have the option to turn on and off the cookie bar, show it as a banner, choose where to show the information and whether to make it sticky on page load. It also provides a few customization options to fit your site’s design. For instance, you can choose the cookie bar color, message and change how the button appears to users. The plugin also offers a cookie audit and a shortcode which will display what cookies your site utilizes so that you can show visitors on your privacy policy page.

2. Cookie Notice for GDPR

Cookie Notice is a foolproof GDPR plugin that can be used to inform your visitors that your site uses cookies. Some of its main features include customizable cookie messages, link your privacy policy, redirection options to point users towards another page for more information, multiple cookie expiry options, etc.

The plugin also offers 3 different button styles that you can use on your website. It’s SEO-friendly, which means your load speeds will not be affected. It is also WPMI and Polylang compatible.

3. GDPR Cookie Compliance

GDPR Cookie Compliance is especially useful for website owners who use multiple types of cookies. Not only does it provide cookie information to users, but it lets them control what cookies are stored and the ability to revoke certain ones. However, this plugin first needs to be customized by a website developer in order to make it fully functional. 

It also comes with a customizable and editable platform to give you control over logos, colors and fonts. The plugin is compatible with a variety of translation plugins and comes with two different layouts. For those who use a CDN service, this plugin also supports base URLs from those systems.

4. GDPR Framework

The GDPR Framework gives you an easy and neat interface to handle Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs). It offers you a set of simple tools to help in making the website GDPR compliant. This plugin will generate a GDPR compliant Privacy Policy template page into WordPress. However, you will have to fine-tune it a bit to make it fit your specific website, but most of the groundwork of the policy is readily available. 

Another highlight of the GDPR Framework is the support it has for other plugins. This includes Gravity Forms, Contact Form 7, Formidable Forms, and WPML. You can even provide support for your WooCommerce website should you own an online store.

5. Cookiebot

Cookiebot is another popular WordPress GDPR plugin which is a cloud-based solution that helps you control cookies and trackers, so you can comply with GDPR regulations. It offers a customizable consent banner, which you can simply place on your website. Visitors can then opt-in or opt-out of different cookies. You can also use the plugin to automatically generate a cookie policy and cookie declaration for your website.

6. Complianz

Complianz GDPR Privacy Bundle for WordPress is a complete package of customer privacy management for web developers. It is integrated with a cookie consent feature that prohibits access to cookies of the user’s system unless he approves his consent. It uses a built-in cookie scan to create customizable cookie notices for your region, or worldwide. Besides, the application has cookie policy configuration assistance that will keep you updated regarding the EU laws. 

It comes with a premium version that adds options for geolocation so your site displays a notice only when needed, notification, and inventory of data breaches. The premium version also provides support from their team of WordPress & GDPR experts.

7. WP AutoTerms

The plugin helps with a variety of requirements you might have to bring WordPress completely legal. For those who need help with legal forms, WP AutoTerms might be a good solution. It provides GDPR compliance or even a disclaimer when using affiliate links. The plugins help create a cookies policy, terms of service, and a privacy policy for your site. 

The free version of WP AutoTerms provides links to legal pages which are automated and can easily be accessed from the footer of your site. You can also create update notices in an announcement bar to inform users of changes. Perhaps the greatest features, though, are in the premium version of the plugin. It will automatically create a privacy policy complete with wording specific to the GDPR, provide a cookie notice and other disclaimers. 

8. Weepie Cookie 

With this plugin, you can tweak the cookie settings according to your country. Whether your website operates in the United Kingdom, Holland, or Italy, you can easily set the criterion for use of the cookie to comply with the GDPR law. Additionally, you can connect the website visitors to the privacy policy page of your website as well as block third-party cookies. The plugin also offers many styling options in terms of text, colors, and layout. You can easily configure and edit this plugin without any hassles.

9. PrivateContent – Multilevel Content Plugin

This is another fantastic WP plugin that gives you more control over the privacy of your website visitors. One of the highlights of this plugin is that it restricts the access of users to different sections of your website. What is incredible about this plugin is that it is fully customizable and you can change the user permission. All you need to do is set the access to data at different levels depending on the type of user.

In addition, it provides website visitors with other useful functionalities that include user membership, form framework, and content restriction system to name a few. The other notable features include 1 Click Website Clock, WordPress User Sync System, and skin builders, etc. 

Wrapping Up

The last thing you want is to cause legal trouble due to a lack of compliance with the GDPR. All it takes is a few moments of your time and your site is ready for European traffic. So, it’s always wise to make your website compliant with GDPR, otherwise, you will fall into great trouble.

Above mentioned are some of the best GDPR plugins that are available in the market so far. They come with various features and functionalities to make your WordPress site GDPR ready. You as a site holder need not have any coding knowledge to make this happen. Moreover, if you have any queries, suggestions in this regard, feel free to ask us. We hope the article helped you much to choose a quality plugin.