Hi Jerry. I updated wordpress and I see a message about privacy policies. The update offers a template policy, but states the responsibility is on us to make sure it's used correctly.

Or was there something else I needed to see?

Thanks for your input. I think the gripe is that while the EU doesn't make policy for the US and others, they still have an impact globally.

Some say that international law can give them leverage to pursue litigation for offenders abroad. Even if they can't enforce each case, they could cause hefty legal expenses. Google is even responding to this by updating their polices. Our websites site on a world stage. I read some site owners are finding ways to block EU Internet traffic from their sites. That way, GDPR isn't an issue at all. That's the hope at least.

You have EU visitors so you have to apply the rules they want. You cannot choose, the Internet is global. As you may know, WA has already updated their PP and they are not Europeans.

I know they are not European, and as far as the privacy policy having been updated, never doubted that it wouldn't be.

Cool! Thank you very much for sharing that. Nope, I hadn't seen that post yet. I've seen others mention GDPR and give suggestions. I still think WA staff should address to the whole community. They can take Loes' message and broadcast it to everyone. Maybe they already have but I missed it. Anyway, thank you again for sharing this with me.

It's not a WA policy to offer legal advice and that is what the GDPR is... is a legality.

WA offers advice and training on affiliate marketing and setting up a winning website only. So, because of that I would disagree with their need to start offering legal advice to any of us.

But WA was giving us a privacy policy text which we all used, it is in lessons. I am sure you have used it in your own sites. So this is now obsolete and they should provide a new one. You do not think so?

The link you gave is a text by a WA member who is not a law expert. You cannot rely on that. She is saying that we collect cookies. We do not, at least most of us. Third parties do that through our cites, so this should be formulated properly and I have not seen this mentioned anywhere.

Good points. I was wondering that myself. If they gave us the privacy policy then they'd help us through GDPR, too. Triblu makes good points, too. They may elect to have a hands off approach on this. The advice from other members have been helpful and informative. But are we really covering ourselves by using the GDPR Wordpress plugin? It feels like we are.

I do not think so and have no idea what to do with all this. Have seen at least 4 plugins on the same issue and all are based on popups. I do not wish yet another popup in the sites. This is a mess. What if other countries now introduce their own rules. Why should the idiots from Brussels be the only one?

Good point. The spirit of the policy is to keep businesses in check so they don't invade our privacy. Or mishandle our data. I want protection. I mean, was Equafax ever held accountable for their credit breach? They spilled our personal data in the US all over the place. But to impose it on the world doesn't go over well. People feel better when you let them opt out or in rather than mandate. I've read where some suggest that the rest of the world may block EU traffic. If that happens, the EU could end up in it's own Internet bubble. I doubt that will happen on a large scale. But people who don't want to deal with GDPR might try that. And that could cause the EU to have a different Internet from the rest of us. Maybe.

If you use Google Analytics, then your website is tracking, and because we are the affiliates you may find that the product/service cookie is being interpreted by law, as ours... which was my suggestion that this is a legal issue.

Previously, a privacy policy were considered an honest website owner's option.

I did state that I disagreed with Derrick, and the reasons is my personal opinion, as you too are allowed to have Jovo.

However, I do appreciate and thank you for your input.

Yes I know that GA may be tracking, but this is the third party, a service which most of use. I have no idea what a cookie is, so my sites have no cookies implemented anywhere. We need a formulation which would describe this and not something generated by a plugin like 'this site uses cookies for your better experience', this is just a nonsense.

Of course this is a legal issue which may lead to half a million Euro fine. This is why we need a serious help from experts and not an interpretation by yet another WA member, that was the link you gave.

Which Loes provide links to services available for those who want details... which was the reason I shared her blog.

I can see where you and Jvranjes are both coming from. At a minimum, WA might want to make a statement letting us know we need to sort this out on our own-- or among ourselves. If they feel it isn't their place to give guidance, then they could at least let us know that much. But as Ted mentioned, they could already be working on this but they haven't announced anything yet. I know a lot of members have been sharing information on this. I just worry someone doesn't hear the news and get blindsided. Or, we don't correctly implement the new privacy policies-- which is a valid concern that Jvranjes has voiced. In the meanwhile, I've followed through with Loes' suggestions. I've already added the EU GDPR plugin to my site. I'll do some more research, too. I appreciate everybody's responses. It's helpful to see all the different opinions in this matter.