Add a Google Privacy Statement to WordPress WP Theme

Get That Policy Statement On Your Site

We'll I'll admit, I am not a Google Adsense terms of service (TOS) guru, nor am a a WordPress expert yet either.  I am still a work in process.  I've been using service hosted sites like Blogger, Hubpages, Squidoo, etc for years and decided to go the self-hosted route with a WordPress.Org site of my own  (ThingsToDoNearNorristown.Com).

Every so often I'll hear people warn others who have created a self-hosted (via BlueHost, DreamHost, etc) that a privacy statement should be added if you want to show Google Adsense ads on your site.  This statement generally talks about the use of cookies, double click, affiliate ads, etc and the effect they will have on your visitor's PCs. It is necessary to remain compliant with Google Adsense advertising (publisher) policy.  Check Google Adsense TOS from time to time for changes.

The way I complied with this adsense rule was to create my own Privacy Page on the Word Press theme associated with my site.  It was pretty easy to do but, dopey that I am, not that easy to figure out.  Once I learned how to add a privacy page to my WP site though, it was pretty easy.

Again, I'm not a Google TOS expert but hopefully this will get you started. If you think I'm missing anything here or if I am saying something wrong, please comment below and I'll look into your advice.

So here are the Steps I followed:

Step 1 - Find a Google Privacy Policy Plug-In For Word Press

I am quite certain there are websites out there that can create a policy statement custom for you without the need to install a plug-in, but since WP plug-ins are what WP is all about, why not try the plug in?

Download the plug in and activate it.  I used the "Google Privacy Policy" plug in but feel free to choose one that better suits you and the needs of your site.  Other Privacy statement plug ins might respond differently but I suspect they are generally the same as I describe below.

Step 2 - Settings

Click on "Settings" on your WordPress control panel

Step 3 - Google Privacy Policy

In the menu that appears you should see "Google Privacy Policy" or some derivative name of the whatever plug in you chose to install and activate.

Step 4 - Copy What They Tell You

There should be something on the screen that appears that stays Policy Statement or Google Text or something like that.  In or around that title there should be a code (or text) that you can copy and paste.  

Step 5 - Create a New Page

Now make yourself a Privacy Policy page.  On your Wordpress control panel click "Pages", then "Add New" 

Step 6 - Keep Creating The Page

For the title of the page use "Policy Statement" or "Privacy Policy" etc 

Step 7 - Paste It

In the body of the page, click on the tab that takes you to the code (where you'd enter HTML stuff etc, not where you typically do your 'normal' typing).    Paste that thing you copied in Step 4 in this area of the page.  (If you want to learn more about making a page click here and I'll also have a link at the end of this post)

Step 8 - Nothing Happend When I Pasted Privacy Statement Code!!!

The Privacy statment text might not appear while you are in the edit mode of this new page you created.  To prove that this actually works, save the new page you created.  Then open up your website in a new tab (not as the admin but as if you were a normal, random user googling your website) and refresh the screen.

Your privacy statement, based on the verbage the plug in provided, will appear.

Step 9 - I am Not an Attorney and No Trying To Dictate What Is Right For You

I'm not a contract expert, legal expert, I know nothing of your site and don't pretend to. This is important... read the text that the plug in provides and determine if this is right for your site.  For example, I also intend to add Amazon Affiliate ads to my site one day and my Google statement mentions nothing about this so I added a line stating I might make money off affliate ads, blah, blah, blah.     Your site might be different from mine and I can't tell you if the verbage is right but read it and see how it feels to you and how it compares to the current Google Adsense rules, etc.

Overall, it is pretty easy.  I hope this works out for you.  If you have anything to add, feel free to comment below...

Another Super Cool Post On TurtleDog's Blog :-)

Do you want to learn more about creating a page on Wordpress. Creating a new page is easy and this post will show you how to put add a page on WP - Click Here