Privacy & GDPR

GDPR Compliance Concerns

Is PulseRank GDPR compliant by default?

Yes. PulseRank follows WordPress privacy standards:

• IP addresses hashed (SHA-256 + salt)
• No personal data collected (names, emails, etc.)
• Data stored locally (not sent to external servers)
• Privacy export/delete support built-in
• Minimal cookies (single first-party session)
• No third-party tracking scripts

Privacy Export Not Working

PulseRank data not included in WordPress export

Feature: WordPress → Tools → Export Personal Data

Expected: PulseRank data included in export ZIP

If not included:

• Check Email Hash: PulseRank links data to user email hash. Export only works for logged-in users.
• Verify Tables: Ensure wp_pulserank_hits has email_hash column. May need plugin update if upgrading from very old version.
• Test Export:

// Check if user has PulseRank data
global $wpdb;
$email = '[email protected]';
$hash = hash( 'sha256', strtolower( trim( $email ) ) . wp_salt( 'auth' ) );
$count = $wpdb->get_var( $wpdb->prepare(
    "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM {$wpdb->prefix}pulserank_hits WHERE email_hash = %s",
    $hash
) );
echo "Records: $count";

Cookie Consent Integration

Does PulseRank work with cookie consent plugins?

Yes, via filter hook.

Example with CookieYes, Complianz, etc.:

add_filter( 'pulserank_tracking_enabled', function( $enabled ) {
    // Check if user has given analytics consent
    if ( ! your_consent_plugin_has_analytics_consent() ) {
        return false; // Disable PulseRank tracking
    }
    return $enabled;
} );

Built-in Consent Plugins:

• CookieYes: Use cookieyes_check_cookie('analytics')
• Complianz: Use cmplz_has_consent('marketing')
• Cookie Notice: Check $_COOKIE['cookie_notice_accepted']