Important NEW LAW: GDPR For blogs that host comments / newsletters etc.

Jon

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Ladies and Gentlemen

Taken from : https://www.nomipalony.com/gdpr-for-bloggers/

What is GDPR and why is it important?
GDPR is the General Data Protection Regulations that come into force 25 May 2018. This is a big update to the Data Protection Act 1998.

Anyone processing personal information must register with the Information Commissioners Office and comply by law.

If you are found to have breached GDPR then the fines are EPIC. We are talking fines of an upper limit of €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover – whichever is higher! Fines are also stackable per offence.

Separate to these fines and penalties, individuals will have the right to claim compensation for any damage suffered as a result of violating the GDPR.

It applies to anyone who deals with!
  • user registrations,
  • comments,
  • contact form entries,
  • analytics and traffic log solutions,
  • any other logging tools and plugins,
  • security tools and plugins.

What do you need to do?

You must register with Information Commissioners Office (ICO)

Registering with ICO costs £35 a year and should take 15 minutes.
 

Blackpepper1

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That is really bad news for all bloggers especially those who don't make any money from blogging. They will now be forced to pay this yearly fee on top of the hosting and domain cost. I am sure allot of blogs will just disappear once this comes into force in May.
 
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Jon

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That is really bad news for most bloggers who don't make any money from blogging and will now be forced pay this yearly fee on top of the hosting and domain cost or give up blogging completely.
It's £35 a year so you could absorb it into other costs (lower hosting costs, find a cheaper newsletter provider etc) but it sort of 'is what it is'.

If your blog has comments you need to do it
If your blog has a newsletter you need to do it
If you run a forum... YOU NEED TO DO IT lol
 

Jon

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One interesting argument is that if you run a newsletter and use Mailchimp / SendInBlue or whoever you have no control over how the information is stored even though GDRP states it is on both you and the provider to comply
 

Blackpepper1

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It's £35 a year so you could absorb it into other costs (lower hosting costs, find a cheaper newsletter provider etc) but it sort of 'is what it is'.

If your blog has comments you need to do it
If your blog has a newsletter you need to do it
If you run a forum... YOU NEED TO DO IT lol
Still really bad news for bloggers though.
 

Svendo42

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4% of turn over... So you have to turn over £700 /year from your blog before it's worth registering?

In all seriousness, yes it is something that needs clarity from an official source.
 

Jon

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4% of turn over... So you have to turn over £700 /year from your blog before it's worth registering?

In all seriousness, yes it is something that needs clarity from an official source.
You mean this line
If you are found to have breached GDPR then the fines are EPIC. We are talking fines of an upper limit of €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover – whichever is higher! Fines are also stackable per offence.

Where are you getting the £700 figure from unless I'm missing something.
 

Jon

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So if you disable comments on your blog would you still have to pay?
Are you running a newsletter?

Are you collecting your user data in any other way such as using Google Analytics?

I don't think it will be as bad as it sounds but with very little known about it until May it doesn't really help lol
 

Blackpepper1

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Think it will be just a case of seeing what happens in May and if anyone is thinking of starting up a Blog to just wait until everything is clarified once the law is in force.
 

charlyn

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Are you running a newsletter?

Are you collecting your user data in any other way such as using Google Analytics?

I don't think it will be as bad as it sounds but with very little known about it until May it doesn't really help lol

No Newsletter but I do use Google Analytics. I hope there is a way round paying it!
 

Jon

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Think it will be just a case of seeing what happens in May and if anyone is thinking of starting up a Blog to just wait until everything is clarified once the law is in force.
I don't think you need to stop running a blog or see it as some massive roadblock as such

At worst case you pay £35
at best case it isn't as bad as you think and you pay £0

;)
 

Blackpepper1

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I don't think you need to stop running a blog or see it as some massive roadblock as such

At worst case you pay £35
at best case it isn't as bad as you think and you pay £0

;)
Hopefully it will be £0 for most people anyway.
Thing is even if you register and pay that fee your details are put on a publicly viewable database so your address can be seen by everyone.
Most people don’t want their home address to be publicly viewable.
 
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Blackpepper1

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Interesting just went through the do I need to register link to check and get this:
You are under no requirement to register

Organisations or individuals who only process personal data for judicial functions, to maintain a public register or for domestic or recreational reasons are exempt. You therefore do not have to register with the ICO.

However, it is important that you continue to adhere to the principles of the Data Protection Act (DPA) and understands best practice for managing information. To help ensure you are complying with the DPA, we have produced a range of training materials including practical toolkits, training videos and more.

You can still register voluntarily if you wish.

So a blog is just for recreational reasons I would have thought. So exempt. From the questions asked it was just seeking to be talking about big organisations rather than individuals just running a personal blog.
 
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Jon

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On that “maintain a public register” I assume they mean “run a newsletter mailing list”
 

Blackpepper1

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On that “maintain a public register” I assume they mean “run a newsletter mailing list”
It is extremely confusing!
If you go through the do I need to register questions it just comes up with that as though individuals don't need to register. It is just as though they are only talking about big organisations and companies and not individuals running a blog. Just recreational purposes could really cover allot.
 

Svendo42

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You mean this line:

If you are found to have breached GDPR then the fines are EPIC. We are talking fines of an upper limit of €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover – whichever is higher! Fines are also stackable per offence.

Where are you getting the £700 figure from unless I'm missing something.

So if the annual turnover for your site/blog is £700 and they fine you 4% then you'd pay £35. If less than £700, say £600 then 4% would be £24. Sorry it was a tongue-in-cheek comment...
 

Svendo42

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It is extremely confusing!
If you go through the do I need to register questions it just comes up with that as though individuals don't need to register. It is just as though they are only talking about big organisations and companies and not individuals running a blog. Just recreational purposes could really cover allot.

If you're making money then it may not be seen as recreational - but I agree, I think 'they' have bigger fish to fry.
 

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