This article was prepared especially for our blog by the experts at termly.io – an all-in-one compliance solution for small businesses.
Whether you know it or not, if you run a travel blog, you’ve got global reach. That’s a beautiful thing – your community probably includes people from very different backgrounds and cultures.
But with great power comes great responsibility! If you have visitors from the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) and your blog monitors those users’ online behavior, you need to make sure you’re complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Dive into this guide to learn how the GDPR’s strict guidelines for collecting, processing, and using personal data impacts travel blogs.
What is the GDPR?
The GDPR is one of the strictest consumer data laws, and it inspired much of the privacy legislation that now exists worldwide.
It protects the personal data of people in the EU and EEA regardless of their citizenship status and doesn’t just apply to European businesses: if you live in Antarctica but your service is available in the EU/EEA, you’re still required to comply.
The GDPR gives protected individuals various rights over their personal data, including the rights to know if data about them is being collected and to access, correct, or delete it.
Implications for travel blogs
The GDPR applies to travel blogs because they are typically available to internet users around the world, including people located in the EU/EEA.
Also, it’s common for travel bloggers to set up ads and to monitor the analytics of their visitors to learn how to improve their content.
If any of those visitors come from the EU/EEA, then you’re considered a “data controller,” and your blog is required to comply with all aspects of the GDPR.
What personal data do travel blogs collect?
Travel blogs typically collect personal data from visitors in the following ways:
- Online forms: If your travel blog uses online forms and asks website visitors for identifiable details like full names and email addresses, you’re collecting personal information. This includes newsletter sign-ups.
- Cookies and other trackers: Most websites use cookies to function, and some help with analytics and targeted advertising. If your travel blog uses cookies this way, it’s processing personal information.
- Account creation or logins: If your blog fosters a community of users who can create accounts or logins, you’re likely collecting personal data from users when they sign up for those accounts.
- Third-party video hosting: If you embed videos from a third-party platform like YouTube in your content, a cookie may be left on your users’ browsers when they click play. This is a form of processing personal data because their information is being shared with that platform.
It’s important that you know if and how your blog is collecting protected data from visitors so you can ensure you’re complying with all applicable privacy laws, including the GDPR.
GDPR requirements for travel blogs
Let’s walk through the main requirements of the GDPR and how they impact your travel blog.
Privacy notification guidelines
The GDPR requires all travel blogs that qualify as data controllers to present their users with a privacy notice that meets specific guidelines.
It must inform your users about all the following details:
- What personal data you collect
- Your legal basis for collecting it
- For which purposes you process data
- Whether you share the data with any third parties
- Your data retention and data security policy
- Whether and how you transfer data internationally
- How EU/EEA users can follow through on their rights to access, correct, or delete the data you’ve collected from them
- How you’ll communicate changes to the policy to your users
We’ll look at some of these requirements in detail below.
For full compliance, your privacy policy must also be written in easy-to-read language and be accessible to all website visitors.
For example, the popular travel blogger Nomadic Matt adds a link to his privacy policy directly in the footer of his website:
If this sounds like a lot of intense technical information, don’t worry – plenty of resources exist to help you create one of these legal documents for your website.
For example, you can use a GDPR-compliant privacy policy generator to make one automatically. You can also find templates online.
Legal basis for processing personal data
To collect and process personal data, you must prove you’re doing so for one of five specific legal bases outlined in Article 6 of the Regulation:
- Consent: You can collect personal data from users if you request and obtain their express, affirmative consent before any data collection occurs.
- Contractual obligations: The GDPR allows for data collection if you can prove it’s necessary to fulfill a contract between your business and the user.
- Legal obligation: Processing data under the GDPR is lawful if you’re legally obligated to do so.
- Vital interests of the data subject: If data collection is necessary to protect human life, then it’s allowed under the GDPR.
- Public task: Your business is allowed to collect data in order to perform a task in the public interest.
- Legitimate interests: The GDPR allows you to process data if doing so is necessary for your business’s legitimate interests – but this can be tricky to prove.
Your blog may use multiple legal bases for processing user data. Just know it’s your responsibility to prove that the legal bases you’ve expressed are legitimate; otherwise, you risk getting fined for violating the law.
For example, many websites that use “consent” as one of their lawful purposes for data processing meet the GDPR requirements by presenting their users with a pop-up consent banner. It prompts them to click an unmarked checkbox to confirm that they’ve read and agree to the privacy and cookie policies. The pop-up needs to have live links to the most recent versions of both documents.
Again, don’t be intimidated. Consider using a consent management platform (CMP) to configure a GDPR-compliant consent banner on your blog.
International data transfers
To ensure that personal data is adequately protected, the GDPR requires that if data is transferred internationally, the destination must have laws in place to protect it. You can find a list of approved regions here.
Otherwise, you may need to use a standard contractual clause (SSC) to guarantee you’re transferring data in a way that meets the high standards of the GDPR.
If your travel blog transfers personal data outside of the EEA, make sure you also clearly disclose this in your privacy policy.
Data subject rights
Your travel blog must allow users in the EU and EEA to follow through on the privacy rights granted to them under Section 3 of the GDPR.
This includes the right to:
- Know who is collecting which data
- Access the personal data that’s collected about them
- Correct the data that’s collected about them
- Object to the processing
- Opt out of profiling and automated decision-making
- Have their data deleted (the “right to be forgotten”)
- Obtain a portable copy of their data
- Request to restrict the processing of their data
To help with compliance, adding a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) form to your blog can help you keep track of user requests to follow through on these various privacy rights.
Or you can add contact information like an active email address to your privacy notification, as well-known travel blogger Expert Vagabond does:
Data security requirements
The GDPR requires all data controllers, including travel bloggers, to keep the personal data they collect safe from security breaches and unauthorized access. It also outlines some data breach notification requirements.
If the information you collect and store is ever compromised, you could be held financially responsible.
Consequences of GDPR noncompliance
If, for some reason, you’re caught violating the GDPR, the consequences can be significant. You could receive the following fines:
- Unintentional/less severe infraction: Up to 10 million euros or 2% of your gross annual revenue, whichever is higher.
- Intentional/severe violations: Up to 20 million euros or 4% of your gross annual revenue, whichever is higher.
On top of the financial penalties, data protection authorities might mandate that you stop all data processing activities. And because GDPR violations are publicly known, it could also cause harm to your brand reputation.
The GDPR and travel blogs: final thoughts
It’s not as fun as flying to Bali, but if you’re a travel blogger, then complying with legal requirements like the GDPR just comes with the territory.
If you haven’t already added a privacy notice, consent management platform, and DSAR form to your travel blog, don’t delay – the consequences of ignoring these requirements can be unpleasant. Your readers will appreciate your transparency, and you can focus on sipping a Bali Cider on the beach.