Publish a privacy policy
Drupal CMS creates a stub privacy policy page and a preconfigured footer link when the site is first installed. Various texts in the consent manager link to this page, so prioritize updating and publishing it to avoid broken links.
The stub privacy policy replaced with your organization’s policy and published, so the footer link and consent manager references resolve for every visitor.
Prerequisites
Section titled “Prerequisites”- A running Drupal CMS site and an account that can edit and publish content.
- Your organization’s privacy policy text; the first step covers what to include.
Draft the policy content
Section titled “Draft the policy content”A privacy policy is a legal document that explains how your website collects, uses, stores, and protects user data. Depending on where your organization does business, local laws may require you to publish one. Even where it is not legally required, a privacy policy builds trust, and regulations such as GDPR and CCPA offer guidance for creating policies that respect user privacy.
When creating or updating your policy, consider covering:
- The types of data your site collects: personally identifiable information (names, email addresses, location data) and non-personal data (browser type, IP address).
- Why the data is collected, such as improving user experience, processing transactions, or meeting legal requirements.
- How collected data is processed, including analytics, marketing, and third-party integrations.
- Who has access, and why, when your site shares user data with external services such as analytics providers or payment processors.
- The security practices that safeguard user data from unauthorized access or breaches.
- How users can access, modify, or request the deletion of their data.
- The purpose of any cookies or tracking scripts, and how users manage their consent.
- How users are notified of updates to the policy and where they review the latest version.
Update and publish the stub page
Section titled “Update and publish the stub page”- Go to Content
/admin/content, find the existing privacy policy, and select Edit under Operations. - Populate the Description field. It is displayed in search results and teasers; one sentence naming your organization and domain is sufficient, for example: “This privacy policy describes Example Org’s policies and procedures regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of information you provide when you use example.com.”
- Add your organization’s detailed privacy policy to the Content field.
- Change the page status to Published.
- Select Save to save your changes and publish the updated page.
Verify
Section titled “Verify”Visit any page of your site as an anonymous user (log out, or use a private browsing window) and confirm the privacy policy link appears in the footer and opens your published policy. Before the page is published, only administrators see the link; once published, it shows up for everyone.
Related
Section titled “Related”- Set up cookie consent: the consent manager links to this policy.
- Move your site to a hosting provider: publish the policy before your site goes live.
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