GDPR-compliant Contact Forms

GDPR states that you need to inform users about what information you are collecting about them, how long you intend to store it and what you intend to use it for at the point of collecting the information.

This means that at the top of your contact form or contact us page you need to have a prominent link to your privacy policy and a statement saying that you are collecting personal information, and by submitting the form or sending you an email, users are agreeing to this. You should also include a link to your privacy policy so that your users can find further information.

If you want to be extra careful, you can have a check box on your form that users must check to confirm that they have read and accept your privacy statement. It is possible to add one of these check boxes that will not allow the user to submit the form until the box has been checked.

Social Media: is it right for my Council?

Flummoxed by Facebook, thwarted by Twitter… here’s you easy guide to the different social media networks

If your council isn’t currently using social media, now is the time to consider why that is. These days, online presence is everything, and it is important to interact with your residents in a variety of ways. It is a particularly good way to connect with younger members of your community. Here’s our summary of the main social media platforms, and things you should think about before deciding to sign up:

Facebook

Interacting with your residents on Facebook gives you the opportunity to share content, advice and opinions, entering into a conversation with people who are interested in your work. You should make sure that your posts are interesting and original, and that you respond to any communication in a timely and professional manner, as it will be seen by a wider audience. Facebook has the oldest demographic of the main social media networks and the fastest growing sign-ups are from the over 50s.

Twitter

Share short 140-character messages and links with followers, enabling you to send (and receive!) instant information about what’s happening in your area, or anything else you think your residents may be interested in. Twitter is a very good way to get out short snippets of information to your residents. You can connect with, and follow, other local councils and industry bodies such as NALC to see what is going on in the wider community. It can also be an invaluable resource for finding information about funding or issues affecting your local area.

LinkedIn

This is a business networking site that is growing extremely quickly. It is mostly used for recruiting/finding work and connecting with others. You can get by simply by creating a profile, but to really use it, you need to regularly update your status and participate in discussion groups.

Instagram

This is an image-driven social network. If you have lots of pictures of your area that you would like to share with a wider audience and would like your parishioners to be able to share their pictures to your space it is a good network to use.

I Want To Give It A Go – What’s Next?

If you’re a complete beginner in the world of social media, it can be a bit daunting to know where to begin. We will be writing a series of guides on how to set up and effectively use each of the social media platforms, so watch this space…

 

Making your website GDPR cookie compliant

What is a cookie

A cookie is a small text file that is downloaded onto ‘terminal equipment’ (eg a computer or smartphone) when the user accesses a website. It allows the website to recognise that user’s device and store some information about the user’s preferences or past actions. Cookies are used by virtually all modern websites.

Cookie consent

Users must be given the option to consent or refuse to accept cookies. Cookies must be deactivated until that consent is given. The exception is for cookies considered Strictly Necessary, such as cookies that are set when a user logs into a site  and that are required to ‘remember’ this fact.

The only way to fully comply with the new GDPR restrictions on cookies is to set up a ‘granular’ cookie consent bar. This enables users to refuse certain types of cookie – for example analytics cookies or marketing cookies.

Your cookie policy needs to be up to date.

GDPR demands that specific document is provided, detailing which cookies are set by your site, and what they do.

Our GDPR-compliant cookie consent package includes three key components:

  • GDPR compliant cookie consent function to allow the visitor to choose which types of cookies are set, in compliance with GDPR regulations.
  • Custom Privacy Policy page including content compliant with GDPR legislation.
  • SSL certificate installed and configured for your site.

Read about our GDPR-compliant packages here

GDPR – creating a compliant Privacy Policy page

We’ve included some of the basics to help you get started. In general, most privacy policy laws require you to inform users of:

  • Your name (or business name), location, and contact information;
  • What information you’re collecting from them (including names, email addresses, IP addresses, and any other information);
  • How you’re collecting their information, and what you’re going to use it for;
  • How you’re keeping their information safe;
  • Whether or not it’s optional for them to share that information, how they can opt-out and the consequences of doing so;
  • Any third-party services you’re using to collect, process, or store that information (such as an email newsletter service, or advertising network).
  • Who is collecting the data?
  • What data is being collected?
  • What is the legal basis for processing the data?
  • Will the data be shared with any third parties?
  • How will the information be used?
  • How long will the data be stored for?
  • What rights does the data subject have?
  • How can the data subject raise a complaint?

Read about our GDPR-compliant packages here

You can read more on the ICO website:

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-to-be-informed/

GDPR – is your website compliant?

You’ve probably seen and heard lots about the new GDPR legislation which came in a few weeks ago, but might not know exactly what it means you have to do to ensure your website is compliant after 25th May.

1) You need an up-to-date Privacy Policy.

You need to publish your privacy policy. This document must contain information about how your council processes any personally identifiable information, how long it is retained for and why you need to process it.

All our websites come with a page ready for you to add your policy to, linked into the site footer so users can easily find it.

Read more about privacy policies here.

2) Cookies

You might think your site doesn’t set cookies. However, cookies are an essential part of the functioning of all modern websites. For example, any site that you log into to make changes sets cookies to enable you to do this. So virtually all websites set cookies, including yours.

GDPR places new restrictions on cookies, as detailed here: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-pecr/cookies-and-similar-technologies/

To clarify this, you are obliged to:

  • tell people the cookies are there
  • explain what the cookies are doing and why; and
  • get the person’s consent to store a cookie on their device
    • consent must be freely given, specific and informed
    • users should be able to disable cookies, and you should make this easy to do

There is an exception if the cookie is ‘strictly necessary’

Read more about making your website GDPR cookie-compliant here.

 

I realise this is a lot to take on. GDPR has resulted in a massive bureaucratic burden. We are here to take control of GDPR compliance for you and reduce any worries you may have.

Read about our GDPR-compliant packages here

Next Transparency Code Deadline: 1 July

Yes, it’s that time of the year again. You need to publish the following information no later than 1 July in the year immediately following the accounting year to which it relates:

  • All items of expenditure above £100
  • End of year accounts
  • Annual governance statement
  • Internal audit report
  • List of councillor or member responsibilities
  • Details of public land and building assets

More details are available on pages 6-9 of this document: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/388541/Transparency_Code_for_Smaller_Authorities.pdf

 

Win a free website!

by becoming our 100th customer

We are getting very close to welcoming our 100th local council customer and would like to celebrate by offering a free website to whoever signs up as our 100th member. The site will be designed and set up with all your content, all you will need to pay is ongoing hosting costs.

Get a quote now – the 100th person to sign-up for a website will win it!

Click to get a quote

To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is mention the competition when requesting or accepting a quote from us (it doesn’t matter if we sent you a quote before the competition was announced – the winner of the competition will be the 100th council to return the signed contract to us).

The winner will be announced on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Get ready for GDPR

Why You Need to Care About GDPR

Every time you collect an email address, a name, home address or phone number, you are obtaining someone’s personal data. If any of those people are citizens of the European Union, you must adhere to the new rules. But don’t stress! We’ll explain the basics and provide some tips to help you transition.

The GDPR was developed to modernize the current EU data protection laws with a stronger focus on an individual’s rights and privacy. While some of the legislation is stricter and the penalties for non-compliance are tougher, the ultimate goal is to improve trust in the digital ecosystem.

To that end, EU citizens will have several new rights to help them take more control of their own data. Here are the most important user rights that apply to local councils:

  1. Right to be forgotten gives someone the power to ask a company to delete ALL of the data that is associated with that person. If a user makes a request, you must delete all the data stored in your databases and anything else associated with the user.
  2. Right of access allows your parishioners to ask exactly how you are using their data and for what purposes. If a request is made, you’ll need to provide a personal data report at no cost to them.
  3. Breach Notification is mandatory under the GDPR, which means you have 72 hours from becoming aware of the breach to notify parishioners.
  4. Right of portability lets people request their data, which means you would need to download a file of all their data in a ‘commonly used and machine-readable format’.

Now that each individual has the power to request or delete their data, you need to think about what data you really need and what data you can live without. The more data you collect, the more documentation and management is required to quickly address a data request.

 

What is a responsive website and why does it matter?

A responsive website is one that adjusts to different screen sizes, whether someone is viewing it on a phone, tablet or desktop pc.

How can you tell if your site is responsive?

Simple, either view it on a mobile phone or if you are looking at it on your computer, just drag the edge of the browser to make it narrower and watch how the site responds. If you find that the site stays the same but just get smaller you are not offering your users a good browsing experience as it is difficult to read the text. A good design will re-flow – the different elements will rearrange themselves so that the content is easy to read at different screen sizes.

Alternatively, visit Google and enter the URL (web address) of your site: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly

This is important for a number of reasons:

  • Nowadays, more people browse the web using their phone than using a traditional pc.
  • Sites that are not responsive can be hard to read on smaller screens or can result in the user having to scroll sideways to view the full page content.
  • Google prioritises sites that offer a good mobile experience – this means you site will rank higher in search results.

How can we help?

All our sites are designed to be fully responsive as standard. Let us set you up a new modern website.

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