GDPR applies to any site processing the data of EU residents, regardless of where the company is hosted. Fines can reach €20 million or 4% of annual global revenue, whichever is higher. Eight years after it came into force, most of the e-commerce sites I audit still have at least three or four significant compliance gaps. Here's the concrete, point-by-point checklist to be compliant without needing a law degree.
1. The cookie banner
This is the most visible point, and the most often poorly implemented. The rule is simple: refusing non-essential cookies must be just as easy as accepting them, on the same screen, in a single click. No box should be pre-checked for non-essential cookies. There must be a clear distinction between cookies strictly necessary for the site to function (no consent required) and audience-measurement, marketing, or social-media cookies (consent required). Consent must be stored with a precise timestamp and technical proof (session identifier, version of the text shown), so it can be produced during an audit.
2. Legal notice and privacy policy
Two distinct documents, often wrongly conflated. The legal notice identifies the company (registered name, business ID, address, hosting provider). The privacy policy must specify the identity of the data controller, the precise purpose of each data processing activity, the retention period for each category of data, the recipients (including third-party subprocessors), and the details of user rights: access, rectification, erasure, portability, objection, and restriction of processing, along with the concrete steps to exercise them.
3. Data collection forms
Every form (contact, sign-up, reviews) must include a clear, non-pre-checked box for any optional consent, with an explicit, understandable statement of how the data will actually be used. Collect only the data strictly necessary for the stated purpose — the minimization principle, often ignored out of excessive commercial caution ("you never know, it might come in handy").
4. Newsletter and marketing emails
Double opt-in is mandatory in practice: a confirmation email must be sent after sign-up, with an explicit validation link. Every subsequent email must include a clear unsubscribe link, functional in a single click, without requiring account login. Processing an unsubscribe request must not take more than a few business days.
5. Subprocessors and third-party tools
Build an exhaustive list of every third-party tool processing personal data on your behalf: analytics solution, CRM, payment provider, hosting, emailing solution, chatbot, review module. For each one, a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) must be signed, specifying security guarantees and where the data is processed (particularly important if the provider is outside the EU).
6. Technical security
HTTPS is mandatory across the entire site, no exceptions. Stored passwords must be encrypted with a robust algorithm (bcrypt at minimum, never MD5 or SHA1 alone). In the event of a security incident involving personal data, notification to the relevant data protection authority is mandatory within 72 hours, and notification to affected individuals is required if the risk to their rights and freedoms is high.
7. Record of processing activities
Every business, including very small ones and freelancers, must keep a record of processing activities listing each type of data collected, its purpose, its retention period, and the associated security measures. This document, often overlooked by small businesses, is the first thing requested during a data protection authority audit.
Concrete consequences of non-compliance
Beyond the direct financial risk, a formal notice from a data protection authority is made public and damages a company's reputation. On the cases I handle, a full compliance remediation typically takes 2 to 4 weeks of work, split between the initial audit, updating legal documents, reconfiguring the cookie banner, and technically securing the site.
