Adapting your own website with regard to the General Data Protection Regulation is indispensable for companies or self-employed persons. There are quite a few regulations and rules to adhere to, so it's easy to lose track. Do you know if your website is optimized according to the General Data Protection Regulation?
A DSGVO check should be performed regularly on websites and we show you how you can do this easily.
How does a DSGVO website check work?
A DSGVO website check to check whether your website is DSGVO compliant works with two variants: the self-check or the website check via tools on the Internet. With the tools, there is usually the option to test them for 14 days and then purchase the full version.
Checks on your own website
You can also carry out a DSGVO test on your own website yourself to a certain extent. According to the General Data Protection Regulation, there are certain rules on how websites have to look.
For example, you can check your own privacy policy, insert a cookie banner, encrypt your website, obtain the consent of your users and provide you with information about analysis tools used.
Check privacy policy on your own website
During the DSGVO check, you should always check your privacy policy first. Is it complete? Have all the necessary details been provided? Do users find all the information you might need here? Is it easy to find and also accessible from all subpages without any problems?
At this point, the most important are the contact details of the operator, information about the collection and processing of personal data, the rights of users and any information about tracking or analysis tools, cookies and plug-ins that may be used on the website.
Insert banner for cookies used
If you want to use cookies on your website, you need to record them in a cookie consent banner, through which the user will be shown the cookies and analytics tools used directly on the first visit to the page.
Here, users now have the chance to either agree to all cookies and tools or reject a number of cookies. For example, if they do not want their data to be shared with external third parties such as social networks or Google Analytics, they must have the chance to refuse this via the cookies. This must not prevent them from viewing the website.
Encrypt websites
It is also mandatory to encrypt websites as soon as they collect personal data of the users on the website. Encrypting the website is necessary so that a secure exchange of data between the operator and the user can take place and the protection of this data can be guaranteed. This is done via an SSL connection.
SSL stands for "Secure Sockets Layer" and is an encryption protocol. An SSL certificate is the prerequisite for data transmission via HTTPS, because HTTPS protocols ensure that data can be transmitted between two parties in a tap-proof manner.
Encrypted websites can therefore be recognized either by the lock next to the URL or the prefix https:// in the URL - unencrypted websites can therefore be identified by the prefix http://. These http web pages give hackers the opportunity to view confidential and personal data of users.
Obtain consent
You must never use a tracking tool such as Google Analytics or social plug-ins, such as Facebook's "Like" button, on users without first obtaining their consent. Via the cookie consent banner, users determine which tracking tools, which plug-in, which cookies or which data collection they agree to and only this may be used with this user.
Since precise information is provided in the privacy policy for all tools used, users must always agree to this when personal data is collected (example: contact form).
Provide information about analysis tools
You can always use analysis tools such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager or even Google Search Console to analyze user behavior on your website. Nevertheless, as mentioned above, you may only use this on users who also explicitly agree to it.
Point out to your visitors in the Cookie Consent banner the analytics tools you use and describe each one in detail in your privacy policy. Likewise, you must give your users the opportunity to object to the tracking or analysis.
Preserve data privacy
Protecting the rights and personal data of users on the Internet is the most important thing of a website owner. If he or she does not comply with the General Data Protection Regulation and the regulations set out therein, he or she can expect warnings or penalties.
Always handle personal data with care and trust and do not pass it on to third parties unless the user expressly agrees to it.
Also, make sure that your website is encrypted on the one hand, but also that data such as the IP address of visitors is anonymized for third-party providers.
Website check tools on the Internet
As mentioned above, you can always perform such checks yourself by following the above-mentioned regulations. However, since any slightest mistake can lead to a lawsuit, a warning letter or a fine, you should always play it safe by using a website check tool.
A website check tool, or DSGVO Checker, is a scanner that checks websites for compliance according to the General Data Protection Regulation and then creates detailed reports about it. A professional website DSGVO check is therefore important to make sure that websites are also set up from front to back according to the General Data Protection Regulation.
About the decareto DSGVO Website Check Tool
Our decareto DSGVO Website Check Tool takes care of checking compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation for all website owners. Moreover, our scanner is cloud-based, which means that you do not need to install any software for the scan.
The decareto scan is applied to all subpages of a website and alerts you to any vulnerabilities your website may have regarding the General Data Protection Regulation. Following the scan, you will receive a detailed report that gives you an overview of any measures that may be missing.
Another advantage you have through decareto is the daily website check on your website. Our scanner checks your website every day and notifies you by email as soon as you need to make changes to a page.
You can find more information about our services and rates on our website. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the DSGVO Check or try our scanner today for 14 days for free.
Author: Eckhard Schneider
