WordPress community unveiled WordPress 4.9.6, updated with new privacy features that will support site owners to comply with GDPR (General Data Regulation Privacy Regulation) taking effect on May 25.
GDPR data protection rules will apply to all the businesses operating in the EU, even if they do not have any physical presence within the EU. Any company that stores or processes personal information about European citizens within or outside EU states will need to comply with GDPR.
To be compliant with GDPR, the companies will have to reveal how they handle the personal data of customers. On that front, WordPress will now allow administrators to designate a privacy policy page that include all the insights about how the site handles the data.
The privacy policy page will be shown on the login and registration pages. It can also be manually added to other pages on website.
The v4.9.6 will also include a detailed guide about how WordPress and its plugins handle the data. Administrators can copy and paste the guide or required details to their privacy policy page.
The end-users who add comment on any WordPress site will have option on whether their name, email address and website are saved in a cookie on their browser.
Another new feature is that the users can request the site administrator to export all their data from the site that has been gathered by WordPress and the participating plugins. Users can also request the administrator to erase all the personal data.
The data export and erasure method will work for the registered users as well as the users who simply comment. An email will be sent to the site administrator when the request is made.
Additionally, the WordPress latest version has been updated with new maintenance features which includes a filter in the media library, and PHP pollyfills for plugins and themes. The TinyMCE has been updated to v4.7.11.
The sites that support automatic background updates will be updated to the latest version soon. And the sites on version 4.6.3 will need to be updated manually.
It works really well for me