Is Gravity Forms GDPR compliant? A guide to safe use
Gravity Forms is one of the most popular plugins for WordPress when it comes to creating forms. But especially in Europe, many website operators are asking themselves the question: Is Gravity Forms GDPR-compliant? In this blog post, we explain which aspects you need to consider in order to use the plugin in a data protection-compliant manner and go into further topics, such as ensuring the general GDPR compliance of your website.
What does GDPR compliance mean for forms?
The European Union’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) defines how personal data may be processed and stored. Forms on your website are often the first point of contact for users to leave information such as names, email addresses or telephone numbers. For this to be GDPR-compliant, you must:
- Maintain data economy: Only collect data that is really necessary.
- Obtain consent: Users must actively agree before their data is processed.
- Offer transparency: Disclose how data is processed and stored.
- Ensure security: Data must be transmitted and stored securely
Steps to GDPR compliance with Gravity Forms
1. Use SSL encryption
Encrypting your website is a must. Make sure your website operates over HTTPS to protect the transmission of form data.
2. Obtain consent
Include checkboxes for consent before users submit their data. Gravity Forms offers options to create such checkboxes with custom text, e.g:
- Consent to the privacy policy
- Consent to receive newsletters (if applicable)
3.Minimize data storage
Gravity Forms stores all submissions in the WordPress database by default. You can deactivate this function so that no personal data is stored on your server.
- To do this, proceed as follows:
- Navigate to the settings of the form.
Activate the option “Do not save data after submission”.
4.Contract for order processing (AVV)
If you use third-party integrations such as Zapier, Mailchimp or other add-ons, consider whether these providers offer a DPA. This is necessary if data is processed outside the EU.
5.Logging and IP addresses
Gravity Forms often saves the user’s IP address.
- Deactivate the saving of the IP address in the plugin settings.
- Alternatively, you can use an add-on that supports this function.
GDPR and reCAPTCHA: How they work together in a form
Using reCAPTCHA in combination with Gravity Forms is a popular method to prevent spam. However, the integration of reCAPTCHA brings challenges in terms of GDPR, as reCAPTCHA collects personal data such as IP addresses and transmits them to Google’s servers in the USA. Here are the most important steps to integrate reCAPTCHA into your forms in a GDPR-compliant manner:
1.Obtain informed consent
Explain to your users transparently why and how reCAPTCHA is used in your form. Include details on data processing by Google in the privacy policy, such as
- What data is collected by reCAPTCHA.
- The purpose of data collection (protection against spam).
- The information that data is transmitted to Google.
2.Obtain consent before activating reCAPTCHA
Use a consent management tool (cookie banner) that only activates reCAPTCHA after the user has given their consent. This prevents data from being sent to Google without consent.
3.Check alternatives to reCAPTCHA
If the use of reCAPTCHA is viewed critically, you can consider alternative spam protection methods, e.g:
- Honeypot fields (hidden fields that bots fill in but humans ignore).
- Local CAPTCHA solutions that do not send data to third parties.
4.Conclude a DPA with Google
Conclude a data processing agreement (DPA) with Google to create the legal basis for data transmission. Google offers standardized DPA forms that you can complete online.
5.Ensure that your website uses HTTPS
All transmitted data should be sent via a secure connection. This is not only a security aspect, but also a prerequisite for GDPR compliance.
Conclusion
The combination of Gravity Forms and reCAPTCHA can be made GDPR compliant if you follow the steps above. Careful integration and the provision of information to your users are key to meeting data protection requirements.
General conclusion: Using Gravity Forms in compliance with GDPR
Gravity Forms itself is a powerful tool that can be used in a GDPR-compliant manner if configured correctly.