Privacy & Data Protection Settings

Data Protection

Anonymize IP Addresses

This setting masks the last segment of a user’s IP address to protect their privacy. By doing so, it complies with GDPR and other privacy regulations, preventing the storage of full IP addresses.

Effect: Only a partial IP address is stored, which makes it difficult to pinpoint the exact user, thus enhancing privacy.

Recommendation: Enable this setting to ensure user privacy and comply with data protection standards.

Example: If a visitor’s IP is 123.456.789.012, with anonymization enabled, it would be stored as 123.456.789.000.

Hash IP Addresses

Hashing transforms the IP addresses into a unique, non-reversible string using a secure algorithm. This further protects user data by making it impossible to reverse-engineer the original IP address.

Effect: This creates a hashed version of the IP address that can’t be converted back to the original, ensuring higher security.

Example: An IP address like 192.168.1.1 might be hashed to a value like 5f4dcc3b5aa765d61d8327deb882cf99. This hash does not reveal the original IP address.

Recommendation: Enable this setting for an extra layer of security, especially if your website handles sensitive data.

Learn More: For additional details, please refer to Converting IP Addresses to Hash and Counting Unique Visitors Without Cookies.Related guides:

Privacy Compliance

Privacy Audit

This feature checks your WP Statistics settings for compliance with privacy regulations, such as GDPR. It helps to ensure that your data collection practices meet the required legal standards.

Effect: Regular audits of your statistics settings will automatically take place, providing assurance that you comply with privacy laws.

Recommendation: It is highly recommended to enable this setting to proactively monitor and maintain privacy compliance.

Learn More: For more information, please visit the Privacy Audit Documentation.

User Preferences

WP Consent Level Integration

This option allows WP Statistics to integrate with the WP Consent API plugin, ensuring that tracking is performed based on the user’s selected privacy preferences. This integration helps align data collection with user consent choices, enhancing transparency and privacy compliance.

Effect: When this setting is enabled, WP Statistics will only track data according to the consent categories selected by users through a compatible consent management provider.

Additional Option When Enabled:

Statistics Category: You can select from consent categories such as “Functional” or “Statistics-Anonymous” to define how WP Statistics should track user data.

Anonymous Tracking: Enabling this additional option will allow tracking all users anonymously by default, without recording any PII, regardless of their consent settings. This anonymous tracking is classified as “Functional” to align with privacy regulations. PII data will only be collected when explicit consent is given (more information).

Notes: The “Anonymous Tracking” feature is currently in beta and enables compliance with privacy laws while tracking user behavior.

Learn More: Find detailed information and compatible plugins here.

Do Not Track (DNT)

This setting respects the ‘Do Not Track’ signal from a user’s browser, which requests that their browsing activity not be tracked.

Effect: Enabling this option will ensure that users who opt out of tracking are not monitored, aligning with their privacy preferences. Although not mandated by all privacy laws, honoring DNT signals demonstrates a strong commitment to user privacy.

Learn More: For more information, please see the Do Not Track Documentation.

Important Privacy Notice

By default, WP Statistics does not record any Personally Identifiable Information (PII). However, you can change the default settings to record some user data, such as IP addresses and WordPress UserIDs. Before making changes to privacy-related settings, make sure you fully understand them and consult with a legal professional if necessary. Utilizing the Privacy Audit functionality can also be very helpful in ensuring compliance with applicable privacy laws.

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Related Privacy Resources

Data Protection

Anonymize IP Addresses

Hash IP Addresses

Privacy Compliance

Privacy Audit

User Preferences

WP Consent Level Integration

Do Not Track (DNT)

Important Privacy Notice

Related Posts

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