GDPR came into effect on May 25th, 2018 and concerns data protection for individuals in the European Union. It offers control over uses of consumer data in the form of increased transparency. When it comes to the online business, it is expected that eCommerce businesses will significantly be impacted.

This is the reason giant names in the realm of eCommerce are taking necessary steps to make themselves ready for the new changes. Let’s explore:


Magento

The crew of Magento has been consistently putting efforts to ensure that the platform is prepared for GDPR changes by proactively revising its policies and contracts in context to data security and privacy. Magento has also been analyzing its products to help customers in finding out what exact data is being retained by the platform and where is it retrieved.

Magento is also telling its customers to review any kind of extensions that are linked to their account. In order to be GDPR-compliant completely, it has advised all of its customers to assess all of their services that are linked to third-party organizations.


WooCommerce

WooCommerce has been consistently discussing the effects of GDPR over last few months. To help its clients get ready for GDPR, it has offered information about the new rules in context to WooCommerce GDPR plans.

It will inform users about GDPR, the process of collecting and accessing data. It also has been informed that permission is vital before receiving any data. Users of the platform can anytime access or delete data as well.

WooCommerce has also informed its users about the importance of GDPR and businesses need to be GDPR-compliant.


Shopify

Shopify has also evaluated how GDPR affects the platform. Shopify has also revealed that its services will not be altered, however, the way these services are offered will be a slight different. GDPR affects the platform in the following ways:

Shopify requires to make confirmed contractual commitments with their merchants, especially when using a third party to process its services.

Shopify needs to ensure that it is able to consider the rights of European merchants and clients when it comes to personal data.


PrestaShop

PrestaShop has advised its customers to review and prepare their websites in compliance with the regulations. The platform has also come with GDPR suite module to help in GDPR compliance. The module provides limited features that include removal of customer data along with personal data request and email notifications to the store admin whenever a new request is created. The module also helps in administration of requests manually. PrestaShop has also warned that admin will have to collect and remove data manually.


BigCommerce

BigCommerce is constantly working to exceed the privacy standards required by GDPR. The company’s director has also offered a comprehensive list of tips for launching a GDPR-compliant business. It is also working to appoint a single employee within the firm as data protection officer. Another effort is the creation of inventory of data processing activities and updating privacy notices as transparent and specific.

BigCommerce has also updated its privacy policy in context to the latest EU guidelines.  



How Should eCommerce Businesses Be Prepared For GDPR?

It is important to start by running a full data audit. Though the process sounds daunting but it is an important part of the process. The factors that need to be considered are data security, data monitoring and data accessibility. You need to ensure that the data shared by third party should also be compliant with GDPR. Companies preparing for GDPR need to examine data management carefully. It involves an in-depth analysis of how data is transferred, processed, saved and organized within business. It further helps in mitigating potential risks to personal data.


Ending notes!

Businesses that operate around eCommerce must have a checklist that includes:

    ?  Are processors documenting how data is stored in accordance with Article 30 of GDPR.

    ?  Is there an information audit performed to find out what personal data the company holds about their clients.

    ?  Have all the members of email database explicitly consented to receiving email messages from us.

    ?  Has the business reviewed its policies, procedure or contracts to address areas like security, retention and sharing of client’s data.

Author Bio: Tom Hardy has hands-on experience as a digital marketing consultant. He currently works at Sparx IT Solutions: GDPR Compliance Checklist Provider and offers exceptional website auditing services to prepare a business for GDPR readiness. Also, he writes informative blogs to let users know how much it is important to comply with GDPR for websites to get better data security.