Personal Data Policy
Personal Data Policy
A personal data policy established for a website serves as an internal framework that governs how a site stores and manages the personal data of its visitors. Since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in 2018, stricter requirements have been imposed on how personal data can be handled.
What Is It?
Personal Data
Personal data refers to any information that can either directly or indirectly be linked to a specific physical person. Direct personal data can independently identify an individual, while indirect personal data, combined with other information, can identify an individual.
Examples of personal data under GDPR include names, personal identification numbers, addresses, phone numbers, photos, and email addresses.
Direct personal data includes items such as names and personal identification numbers. Examples of indirect personal data include IP addresses and places of residence.
Personal Data Policy
All websites that handle personal data must comply with GDPR. One of the basic requirements for handling personal data is obtaining consent from the individual. Consent must be informative, and visitors to a website should be able to easily understand how their personal data is processed. This is why a policy must be created.
A personal data policy should clarify:
- What personal data the website collects and stores,
- How this data is used,
- How visitors can exercise control over their data, and
- How visitors can contact the website owner.
How Does It Work?
A personal data policy for a website must be established by all companies and organizations that operate a site handling personal data.
The policy acts as an internal framework outlining how personal data will be managed. It should be clear, specific, and easily accessible. Once the policy is created, it must be published on the website so that it is available to all visitors.
When creating a website, it is also a good idea to establish a cookie policy, which outlines how small text files store information from users to enhance their experience, as well as terms of use to define what users can and cannot do on the site.