Privacy WP is a plugin that I built a little over a year ago in response to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that came out of the EU in May of 2018.
One of the main issues with GDPR is that it requires businesses to be able to export and/or erase (or anonymize) data that they have on EU citizens. Last year, WordPress introduced export and erase tools (visit Tools > Export Personal Data or Tools > Erase Personal Data), which allow you to do everything you need to do with the data that is stored on your WordPress site. Plugins can even hook into those functions so that your e-commerce transactions, contact form entries, and so many other types of data can be included in the export reports or be erased (or anonymized). This was a great addition to WordPress for privacy purposes, but it missed the mark in a major way.
As a business owner, I know that the data that GDPR covers is not just stored on our WordPress websites. As a matter of fact, I would guess that the majority of this data is stored someplace else.
This is why I created Privacy WP. It allows users to incorporate data stored on third party services, such as Mailchimp, Drip, Stripe, and many others into the built in WordPress export or erase tools.
About Van Ons
Van Ons is a website development firm based in Amsterdam, who also developed a plugin called WP GDPR Compliance, which is currently available on WordPress.org.
When I first started seeking a new owner for Privacy WP, I reached out directly to the developers of several GDPR related plugins. When I spoke to Jeffrey, Van Ons’ Operations Manager and Partner, he said they thought Privacy WP would be a great addition to their current offerings. Not only in terms of an offering to their existing website design clients, but also as a new revenue stream in the premium plugin market.
Being based in The Netherlands gives Van Ons access to a customer base that is much more in tune with the requirements of GDPR than I have access to in the United States.
I believe this deal will help Privacy WP reach a much wider audience and ultimately help site owners streamline the administration of export or erase requests.
Existing Privacy WP Customers Might Have Questions
Do customers that purchased from Amplify Plugins still get updates and support?
Yes! Van Ons has committed to supporting all existing customers, which was one of the biggest requirements I had related to the sale.
If you previously purchased Privacy WP from Amplify Plugins, you shouldn’t notice any real difference after the purchase. Your license key will still work as it always has until it expires. Any updates to the plugin going forward should update as usual.
Where can customers access their account?
You should also still be able to access your account at https://privacywp.com, which was included in the sale. Your username and password should still be the same.
What will happen to subscriptions?
Unfortunately, it was incredibly difficult to transfer ownership of both payment provider accounts (PayPal and Stripe). PayPal flat out refused to allow us to transfer ownership, and Stripe required the account to be based in the Netherlands in order for Van Ons to enter their details. In the end we ended up canceling the existing payment providers and Van Ons opened new ones. So if you had a subscription, you will need to manually renew. You can contact Van Ons support for more information.
Who should customers contact for support?
You can continue to reach support through the links on the Privacy WP website. I have agreed to be available for support for a few weeks after the sale to assist with the transition, so I may still respond to a few requests. After that initial transition period, the Van Ons team will take over support full time.
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