[Resolved] 'Use My Location' feature & GDPR

[Author]

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[julieP]

I understand that site visitors can adjust their browser settings regarding location services. My question is this: if a site using Toolset Maps provides the 'Use My location' feature in a search and the visitor allows the browser to use their location, does Toolset store the generated co-ordinates anywhere either during or after the search has been performed?

Thanks

[Waqar]

Hi Julie,

Thank you for waiting, while I performed some tests.

I stand corrected and the Maps plugin only sets the cookie "toolset_maps_location" with coordinates of the visitor's location, when the page specifically includes the "wpv-geolocation" shortcode:
https://toolset.com/documentation/user-guides/maps-shortcodes/#wpv-geolocation

If only the distance filter is used in the view with "Use my location" feature, then no cookie is set.

I hope this helps and please let me know if you need any further assistance around this.

regards,
Waqar

[julieP]

Hi Waqar

Many thanks for clarifying the situation regarding cookies.

I believe Google collects user data if the user allows his/her location to be used and they have to do this in order to deliver the service. In a Views search (with results displayed on a map) that allows the user to search for posts in a specific location (set by taxonomy) and/or by keyword but not based on their location, I wouldn't expect Google to collect any user data but can you confirm please as I'm struggling to ascertain the situation for this scenario?

Thank you!

[Waqar]

Hi Julie,

Thanks for asking.

When a Google Map is loaded on a page (even without the "use my location" feature), Google can collect user data. How much of the data will be shared, depends on factors like the visitor's login status (into his/her Google Account), security and data sharing settings (into his/her Google account) and browser's settings, etc.

For this reason, if GDPR compliance is a concern, it would be a good idea to clearly mention this point in the privacy policy or terms of use page of the website that Google can collect data on pages with maps and ask for explicit terms of use consent from visitors when they land on the website or at least on the pages with the maps.

Due to the sensitivity involved in these matters, I'll also recommend consulting specialists/experts when it comes to matters involving GDPR compliance and auditing.

regards,
Waqar

[Waqar]

Hi Julie,

Sorry I missed something.

You'll also find information in this link useful:
https://toolset.com/privacy-policy-and-gdpr-compliance/#data-collected-through-the-toolset-maps-plugin

regards,
Waqar

[julieP]

Hi Waqar

Many thanks for this. I've had a look at this https://toolset.com/forums/topic/toolset-maps-and-gdpr-cookie-consent-plugin-seems-to-conflict/#post-1326825 which is referenced in https://toolset.com/privacy-policy-and-gdpr-compliance/#data-collected-through-the-toolset-maps-plugin.

I'm looking to implement "Approach 2" from that ticket but I'm struggling with the conditional statement:-

[wpv-conditional if="( '[ts-generic-get-cookie-value]' eq 'yes' )"]
    [wpv-map-render map_id="map-id"][/wpv-map-render]
[/wpv-conditional]
[wpv-conditional if="( '[ts-generic-get-cookie-value]' ne 'yes' )"]
    [wpv-post-body view_template="consent"]
[/wpv-conditional]

I realised that [ts-generic-get-cookie-value] is a custom shortcode but when I set about creating the shortcode I ran into difficulties. I'm not fluent in JS!

I registered my "get cookie" script (in the wordpress sense of the word register) and then created my shortcode like this:-

add_shortcode( 'get_maps_cookie_value', 'ts1_maps_consent_shortcode' );
function ts1_maps_consent_shortcode() {
	wp_enqueue_script("1-maps-consent");
	return '<?php echo plugin_dir_url( __FILE__ ); ?>frontend/js/1-maps-consent.js'; //get cookie value script
}
}

Is this the right way to do it? (I know the shortcode then needs registering within Toolset settings to work within the wpv-conditional shortcode)

The wpv-conditional seems to assume a cookie (and therefore a value) exists but what if there isn't a cookie, how to check for that?

Many thanks

[julieP]

Hi Waqar

Having messed around with this for a couple of hours, I've managed to find the answer myself so you can ignore my last question!

Many thanks for your help & guidance with this.