[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #40794: WordPress needs a privacy policy

[WordPress Trac]

#40794: WordPress needs a privacy policy
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 Reporter:  johnbillion  |      Owner:
     Type:  enhancement  |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal       |  Milestone:  4.8
Component:  General      |    Version:
 Severity:  normal       |   Keywords:  needs-patch
  Focuses:               |
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 It's been many years since an installation of WordPress operated in
 isolation. The software sends data to various endpoints on
 `api.wordpress.org`, most visibly for update checks, but also for fetching
 translations, checking browser compatibility, and (since 4.8) determining
 the user's location and fetching nearby WordPress events.

 WordPress needs a privacy policy which covers data that gets sent to
 wordpress.org. The wordpress.org website
 [https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/ has a privacy policy], and it may be
 sufficient to link to this, or it may be required to extend this with
 information specifically regarding the data that installations of
 WordPress send to api.wordpress.org. I recommend the addition of a new
 `Privacy` tab on the `About WordPress` screen.

 It's worth noting that the pending [https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations
 /data-protection-reform/overview-of-the-gdpr/ EU GDPR] affects everyone
 because it covers the export of data outside of the EU.

 Adding to the 4.8 milestone as the `WordPress Events and News` dashboard
 widget is a particularly visible example of data collection in WordPress.

 Related: Long-running discussion on #16778.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/40794>
WordPress Trac <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/>
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