GDPR General Data Protection Regulation 2025: Complete Compliance Guide for WordPress and PrestaShop

If you own a website or online store in Europe, 2025 marks a before and after in GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance. Data protection authorities have intensified their supervision and fines have multiplied exponentially.

The cost of ignoring GDPR? Spain's Data Protection Agency (AEPD) alone imposed more than €27 million in fines during 2024, and 72% of penalties went to small businesses that thought "these things only affect large companies." One case: an event organization SME fined €2,000 simply because their website didn't comply with general data protection regulation by failing to provide correct legal information about personal data management.

In this comprehensive guide on GDPR and European data protection regulation, I'll explain exactly what obligations your website must meet to avoid penalties, what fines you risk for non-compliance with the general data protection regulation, and specific steps to protect your business, especially if you use WordPress or PrestaShop. If you need professional help, a WordPress maintenance service or PrestaShop maintenance service specialized in GDPR compliance might be the solution you need.

The 5 European Regulations Transforming GDPR Compliance in 2025

During 2024-2025, Europe has implemented or updated five regulatory frameworks that directly affect any website or online store owner. European data protection authorities are actively auditing compliance with all these regulations:

1. GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) Reinforced and National Implementations

The GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation and its national implementations have been reinforced in 2025 with new requirements that data protection authorities are strictly supervising:

Mandatory granular consent: "Accept all" is no longer enough. You must allow accepting/rejecting specific categories of cookies at the same visual level
AI and automated decision transparency: If you use algorithms for personalization, dynamic pricing or recommendations, you must document it with transparency and traceability
Processing activities record: Mandatory to document all personal data processing activities
Reinforced impact assessments: Required when processing involves high risk to people's rights
Updated video surveillance: Data protection authorities published in 2025 their new video surveillance guidelines with updated measures

Fines: Up to €20 million or 4% of annual turnover (whichever is greater) for serious infringements.

2. NIS2 Cybersecurity Directive

The NIS2 Directive establishes mandatory cybersecurity requirements for critical sectors and medium-large companies. The transposition deadline was October 17, 2024, although implementation varies by country:

Germany: Final law expected before end of 2025, will affect approximately 30,000 companies
Denmark: Transposed May 6, 2025, in force from July 1, 2025
Spain: In transposition process during 2025

Who is obligated? Companies in critical sectors (energy, transport, banking, health, digital infrastructure, etc.) that exceed 50 employees and €10 million in revenue.

Main obligations:

Establish comprehensive cybersecurity risk management frameworks
Access and identity management with robust authentication
Periodic and documented risk assessments
Notification of significant incidents within 24 hours
Regular security audits
Business continuity and disaster recovery plans

Fines: Up to €10 million or 2% of global annual turnover (whichever is greater).

3. Digital Services Act (DSA)

The Digital Services Act entered into force in 2022 but its obligations are being implemented gradually during 2024-2025:

Content transparency: Providers must act against illegal content, removing or blocking it within specific timeframes
Merchant verification: Platforms like marketplaces must verify and display contact information of all merchants (address, phone, email)
Statements of reasons: From July 1, 2025, mandatory to submit statements according to new requirements
Special obligations for VLOPs: Platforms with more than 45 million monthly users have stricter requirements

Fines: Up to 6% of global annual turnover for large platforms.

4. European Accessibility Act

This regulation enters into force on June 28, 2025 and is perhaps the most surprising for many online business owners:

Who is obligated? Companies in e-commerce, banking, transport and telecommunications throughout Europe. Microenterprises are exempt.

Technical requirements: Your website must comply with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards:

Full keyboard navigation
Screen reader compatibility
Sufficient color contrast (minimum 4.5:1)
Alternative texts on all images
Accessible forms with clear labels
Correct HTML semantic structure
Videos with subtitles and transcripts

Critical dates:

New sites launched after June 28, 2025: Must comply from day one
Existing sites: Have until June 28, 2030 to adapt

Penalties: Vary by country, but include:

Croatia: Up to €50,000
France: Up to €250,000
Germany: Up to €500,000
Activity suspension: Authorities can suspend your website after repeated warnings

5. Cyber Resilience Act (CRA)

Approved on December 10, 2024, the Cyber Resilience Act represents "a GDPR moment" for software developers:

From September 2026, developers of plugins, themes and software (including WordPress and PrestaShop) must:

Notify authorities and users about actively exploited or severe vulnerabilities
Maintain documented vulnerability management processes
Provide security updates throughout the product lifecycle

This is critical because in 2024, 7,966 new vulnerabilities were discovered in the WordPress ecosystem (22 per day), and more than half of developers didn't patch vulnerabilities before official disclosure. A professional WordPress maintenance service constantly monitors these vulnerabilities and applies security patches proactively.

Real Fine Cases: Data Protection Authorities Penalize GDPR Non-Compliance

To understand the severity of GDPR and general data protection regulation non-compliance, these are real cases sanctioned by Spain's Data Protection Agency (AEPD) during 2024:

Case 1: Event Organization SME - €2,000

Infringement: Their website didn't provide required legal information about collection and management of visitor personal data.

Lesson: Even small businesses need complete GDPR-compliant privacy policy.

Case 2: CaixaBank - €2,000,000

Infringement: A customer could see another person's transfer document in their personal web area.

Lesson: Technical security is not optional. An access control failure cost 2 million euros.

Case 3: UNIQLO - €270,000

Infringement: Inadequate security measures to protect personal data.

Lesson: Cybersecurity measures must be proportional to risk and type of data processed.

Case 4: Enérgya-VM - €5,000,000

Infringement: Irregularities in personal data processing and lack of measures to prevent fraudulent contracts.

Lesson: Automated processes must have robust security controls.

2024 overall data:

AEPD imposed 242 fines totaling over €27 million
72% of fines (between €600 and €25,000) went to small businesses
30 sanctioning procedures for data breaches (€13.1 million, 37% of total)
AEPD received 19,000 complaints in 2024

Specific Obligations for Your Website in 2025

Regardless of whether you have a blog, corporate website or online store, these are your minimum legal obligations in Europe during 2025:

1. Mandatory Legal Texts

Legal Notice:

Owner's name or company name
Tax identification number
Complete address
Contact email
Contact phone
Registry data if company
Professional registration number if regulated profession

Privacy Policy (GDPR):

Data controller identity
Data Protection Officer contact details (if applicable)
Specific purposes of data processing
Legal basis for processing (consent, contract execution, etc.)
Data recipients (service providers, etc.)
International data transfers (if applicable)
Data retention period
Data subject rights: access, rectification, deletion, restriction, portability, objection
Right to withdraw consent
Right to complain to data protection authority

Cookie Policy:

What cookies are and what they're used for
Types of cookies used (technical, analytics, advertising, etc.)
Purpose of each cookie type
Retention period of each type
Third parties installing cookies (Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, etc.)
How to accept, reject or configure cookies
Compliant cookie banner: equal-level buttons for accept/reject

Terms of Sale (for e-commerce):

Essential characteristics of products/services
Complete price including taxes and shipping costs
Accepted payment methods
Step-by-step purchasing process
Right of withdrawal (14 days for consumers)
Withdrawal procedure
Delivery terms and conditions
Applicable legal guarantees
Alternative dispute resolution information

Fines for absence of legal texts:

E-Commerce Directives: €30,001 to €600,000 depending on severity
GDPR: €40,000 to €20 million or 4% turnover

2. Mandatory Technical Security Measures

SSL/TLS Certificate (mandatory):

HTTPS protocol throughout the site
Valid and updated certificate
Configuration with TLS 1.2 or higher
Automatic redirection from HTTP to HTTPS

Consent Management:

Prior consent before installing non-technical cookies
Granularity: Allow accepting/rejecting by categories
Consent registry: Document who consented to what and when
Easy withdrawal: As easy as granting consent
"Reject all" button at same visual level as "Accept all"

User Data Protection:

Sensitive data encryption in database
Robust access control: Users only see their own data
Secure authentication: Hashed passwords, 2FA recommended
Activity logging: Access and modification logs
Encrypted backups with adequate retention

Security Updates:

Updated CMS core (WordPress, PrestaShop, etc.)
Plugins and modules regularly updated
Updated themes
Updated PHP version (minimum PHP 8.0)
Updated server software

Attack Protection:

Web application firewall (WAF)
Brute force protection (login attempt limit)
SQL injection protection
XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) protection
Basic DDoS protection

3. Web Accessibility (from June 28, 2025)

If your business is e-commerce, banking, transport or telecommunications, you must comply with WCAG 2.1 level AA:

Perceivable: Text alternatives for non-text content, video captions, adequate color contrast
Operable: Full keyboard navigation, sufficient time to interact, no seizure-causing elements
Understandable: Readable text, predictable pages, error prevention help
Robust: Compatible with current and future assistive technologies

4. Incident Response Procedures

If NIS2 applies to you, you need:

Documented incident response plan
Designated team with clear roles
Ability to notify within 24 hours significant incidents
Containment and recovery procedures
Post-mortem and continuous improvement

For everyone (GDPR):

Procedure for notifying breaches to data protection authority within 72 hours
Communication to affected parties if high risk to their rights
Registry of all breaches (even non-reportable ones)

WordPress-Specific Obligations in 2025

If your website uses WordPress (43% of all websites worldwide), you have additional specific responsibilities due to the nature of the ecosystem:

Vulnerabilities: WordPress's Achilles Heel

During 2024, 7,966 new WordPress vulnerabilities were discovered:

96% in plugins (7,633 vulnerabilities)
4% in themes (326 vulnerabilities)
Only 7 in WordPress core (none critical)

Most common vulnerability types:

47.7% Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
14.19% Broken access control
11.35% Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

Severity:

43% exploitable without authentication
43% require low privileges (subscriber or contributor)
12% require high privileges (editor or administrator)

WordPress-Specific Legal Obligations

1. Proactive Vulnerability Management

With the future Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) from September 2026, and with GDPR/NIS2 now:

Continuous monitoring of vulnerabilities in plugins, themes and core
Risk-based prioritization: Not all updates are equally urgent
Quick patching for critical vulnerabilities (24-48 hours)
Immediate deactivation of plugins with actively exploited vulnerabilities
Plugin audit: Remove obsolete, unsupported or untrusted source plugins

2. Mandatory Security Configuration

Change database prefix (don't use default "wp_")
Disable file editor from admin panel
Limit login attempts (brute force protection)
Two-factor authentication for admin users (recommended/mandatory depending on sector)
Correct file permissions (755 for directories, 644 for files)
Hide WordPress version to hinder reconnaissance

3. GDPR Compliance in WordPress

Cookie consent management with compliant plugin (not just any will do)
IP anonymization in Google Analytics or similar tools
Disable comments if data isn't properly managed
Forms with explicit consent (checkbox unchecked by default)
ARCO rights integration: Access, rectification, cancellation, objection
Export and deletion of user data (WordPress includes native tools)

4. Legally Compliant Backups

Minimum frequency: Daily for e-commerce, weekly for corporate sites
Retention: Minimum 30 days to recover from breaches
Encryption: Encrypted backups to protect personal data
External storage: Off main server (encrypted cloud)
Restoration tests: Verify monthly that they work

Why You Need Professional WordPress Maintenance?

Managing all these legal obligations manually is practically impossible for a business owner without deep technical knowledge:

22 new daily vulnerabilities in WordPress ecosystem require constant monitoring
Risky updates: A poorly applied update can break your site
Complex compatibility: Plugins, themes, PHP and WordPress must be updated in correct order
Evolving regulatory compliance: Laws change constantly

A professional WordPress maintenance service specialized in legal compliance offers you:

24/7 monitoring of vulnerabilities and automatic patches
Safe updates with staging environment testing
Compliance audits GDPR, accessibility and cybersecurity
Automatic encrypted backups with legal retention
Incident response within 24 hours as NIS2 requires
Legal documentation of all processing activities
Compliance reports to demonstrate due diligence

PrestaShop-Specific Obligations in 2025

If you manage an online store with PrestaShop, your legal obligations are even stricter because you handle sensitive customer data, payment information and commercial transactions:

Regulations Applicable to PrestaShop E-commerce

GDPR: Personal data protection of customers
E-commerce Directives: Information Society Services Law
Consumer Rights: General Law for Consumer and User Defense
European Accessibility Act: Mandatory from June 28, 2025
PCI DSS: If you store card data (not recommended, use external gateways)

GDPR-Specific Obligations for PrestaShop

1. E-commerce Specific Legal Texts

Terms of Sale with all information required by consumer law
Return Policy clearly visible (14-day withdrawal right)
Shipping costs informed before checkout
Transparent purchase process with summary before order confirmation

2. Consent Management in Purchase Process

Consent to create account: Checkbox unchecked by default
Newsletter consent: Separate checkbox, unchecked, optional
Marketing consent: Specific and easily revocable
No pre-checked boxes: All must be unchecked by default

3. Customer ARCO Rights

PrestaShop includes native tools since version 1.7.4, but you must:

Enable official PrestaShop GDPR compliance module
Configure customer data export from their account
Configure data deletion (with legal exceptions for invoicing)
Clear procedure for customers to exercise ARCO rights
Response within maximum 30 days (1 month from request)

4. E-commerce Specific Security

Password encryption: PrestaShop uses bcrypt (verify updated version)
Payment data protection: Use external gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Redsys) never store cards
Admin panel security: Change default URL (/admin), mandatory 2FA
SSL certificate throughout purchase process
CSRF tokens on all forms (PrestaShop includes it, verify)

PrestaShop-Specific Vulnerabilities

PrestaShop has specific security challenges:

Third-party modules often with vulnerabilities (similar to WordPress plugins)
Outdated versions: PrestaShop 1.6 and earlier without security support
Insecure default configurations: Predictable admin URL, active debug mode
E-commerce specific attacks: Price scraping, stolen card testing, order fraud

E-commerce Accessibility Obligations

The European Accessibility Act is especially strict with online stores:

Purchase process completely accessible by keyboard
Product descriptions complete and understandable
Accessible forms with clear labels and descriptive error messages
Accessible shopping cart with change announcements for screen readers
Accessible payment gateway (verify with your payment provider)

Why You Need Specialized PrestaShop Maintenance?

Online stores have more demanding requirements than static websites:

Direct sales loss from downtime or security issues
Greater legal liability for sensitive customer data
Technical complexity: Integrations with gateways, ERP, CRM, email marketing
Critical updates: E-commerce security patches are urgent
Continuous compliance: Audits, records, documentation

Managing these obligations without professional help puts your business at risk. A specialized PrestaShop maintenance service handles all legal compliance while you focus on selling.

A specialized PrestaShop maintenance service focused on legal compliance includes:

24/7 security monitoring specific for e-commerce
Module updates with full purchase process testing
GDPR compliance audits for e-commerce
Accessibility verification according to European Act
Backups before each sale (continuous incremental)
Performance optimization to maximize conversions
Compliance documentation to protect you from inspections
Priority support for issues affecting sales

Practical Steps to Comply with Your Legal Obligations

Here's a practical roadmap to ensure your website's compliance in 2025:

Phase 1: Audit and Diagnosis (Week 1-2)

Step 1: Data Inventory

Identify what personal data you collect (forms, cookies, analytics, etc.)
Document what you use each data type for (purpose)
Identify who you share data with (third parties: Google, Facebook, email marketing, etc.)
Establish legal basis for each processing (consent, contract, legitimate interest)

Step 2: Technical Audit

Verify you have updated SSL/TLS
Review CMS, plugins/modules, theme, PHP versions
Identify obsolete or unsupported plugins/modules
Verify backup configuration
Test restoring a backup

Step 3: Legal Audit

Review you have all mandatory legal texts
Verify your texts are updated to 2025 regulations
Check your cookie banner (equal-level buttons)
Verify you don't have pre-checked boxes in forms
Check consents are properly recorded

Step 4: Accessibility Audit

Use automated tools: WAVE, Lighthouse, axe DevTools
Navigate your site with keyboard only (no mouse)
Verify color contrast (minimum 4.5:1)
Check all images have descriptive alt text
Verify forms have correct labels

Phase 2: Critical Issues Correction (Week 3-4)

High Priority (immediate fine risk):

Implement SSL if you don't have it
Update legal texts (Legal Notice, Privacy, Cookies)
Fix cookie banner (reject button at same level as accept)
Remove pre-checked boxes in all forms
Update WordPress/PrestaShop to latest stable version

Medium Priority (fine risk on inspection):

Configure automatic backups daily/weekly
Implement login attempt limit
Update all plugins/modules to latest versions
Remove obsolete or unused plugins/modules
Configure Google Analytics with IP anonymization

Phase 3: Preventive Measures Implementation (Month 2)

Proactive Security:

Implement WAF (Web Application Firewall) like Cloudflare or Sucuri
Configure vulnerability monitoring (WPScan, Patchstack for WordPress)
Implement 2FA for all admin users
Configure automatic security alerts
Establish incident response procedure

GDPR Compliance:

Implement robust consent management system
Configure procedures to exercise ARCO rights
Establish data retention times and automatic deletion
Document all processing activities (Activities registry)
If applicable, appoint Data Protection Officer

Web Accessibility:

Fix critical accessibility issues (contrast, keyboard navigation)
Add alt text to all images
Improve HTML semantics (correct headings, ARIA landmarks)
Implement skip links for keyboard navigation
Add transcripts/subtitles to multimedia content

Phase 4: Continuous Maintenance and Improvement (Monthly)

Monthly Tasks:

Review and apply security updates
Audit newly installed plugins/modules
Verify backup status
Review security logs and suspicious access
Monitor regulatory changes (subscribe to data protection authority alerts)

Quarterly Tasks:

Complete security audit
Backup restoration test
Legal texts review (need updating?)
Accessibility audit with automated tools
Consent and cookie management review

Annual Tasks:

Complete legal audit by specialist
Professional accessibility audit (before June 2025)
Processing activities registry review
Data protection impact assessment (if applicable)
Team training on data protection and cybersecurity

Fines and Penalties: What Do You Risk for Non-Compliance?

To make the risk magnitude clear, here's the complete penalty table for each regulation:

GDPR

Minor Infringements:

Fine: Up to €40,000
Examples: Lack of information in data collection, not attending to ARCO rights on time

Serious Infringements:

Fine: €40,001 to €300,000 or up to €10 million / 2% turnover (whichever is greater)
Examples: Processing data without legal basis, not implementing adequate security measures, not notifying breach within 72h

Very Serious Infringements:

Fine: €300,001 to €20 million or 4% annual turnover (whichever is greater)
Examples: Processing data without consent when required, transferring data outside EU without guarantees, breaching basic GDPR principles

NIS2 (Cybersecurity)

Fine: Up to €10 million or 2% global annual turnover
Additional penalties: Mandatory audits, director disqualification

DSA (Digital Services Act)

Fine: Up to 6% global annual turnover
Mainly applies to large platforms, but medium marketplaces can also be penalized

European Accessibility Act

Varies by country: From €50,000 (Croatia) to €500,000 (Germany)
Activity suspension after repeated warnings
Reputational damage: Publication of non-compliances

Other Non-Compliance Consequences

Beyond economic fines:

Criminal liability: Privacy crimes
Reputational damage: Data protection authorities publish penalties
Loss of trust: Customers abandon after security breaches
Remediation costs: Fixing a problem after inspection is 10x more expensive
Business paralysis: During investigations or after activity suspension

Who Should Worry? (Spoiler: Everyone)

There's a dangerous myth: "These regulations only affect large companies." The 2024 reality completely disproves it:

72% of AEPD fines in 2024 went to small businesses (€600-€25,000)
Microenterprises fined for websites without adequate privacy policy
Freelancers sanctioned for misconfigured cookies
Small e-commerce fined for not complying with consumer rights

You're obligated if:

You have any type of website (even a personal blog with contact form)
You collect emails for newsletter
You use Google Analytics or any analytics tool
You have contact forms
You use cookies (even technical ones)
You sell products or services online
You have customer area with login
You process online payments

In summary: If you have an online presence, these regulations apply to you.

Conclusion: Your Website's Legal Security Is No Longer Optional

Legal obligations for websites in Europe 2025 represent a fundamental paradigm shift:

GDPR is no longer "new" regulation: it's the actively audited and penalized standard
Cybersecurity moves from recommendation to legal obligation with NIS2
Web accessibility becomes mandatory requirement from June 2025
Software ecosystem (WordPress, PrestaShop) is under regulatory scrutiny with CRA

The cost of inaction is clear:

More than €27 million in fines in Spain alone during 2024
72% of penalties to small businesses that believed they weren't "on the radar"
Fines from €2,000 to €5 million in real cases
Upward trend: AEPD received 19,000 complaints in 2024

But complying with these obligations manually is practically impossible:

22 daily vulnerabilities in WordPress require constant monitoring
Continuously evolving regulations
Technical complexity requiring specialized knowledge
Time business owners don't have

The Solution: Professional Maintenance Focused on Legal Compliance

For WordPress, a professional WordPress maintenance service specialized in legal compliance guarantees you:

24/7 vulnerability monitoring with safe automatic patches
Risk-free updates with testing environment
Periodic GDPR and accessibility compliance audits
Encrypted backups with legal retention
Incident response within 24h as NIS2 requires
Complete compliance documentation to protect you from inspections
Peace of mind to focus on your business

For PrestaShop, a specialized PrestaShop maintenance service for e-commerce ensures:

Specific protection for online stores (greater legal risk)
Security monitoring focused on e-commerce (fraud, scraping, attacks)
Compliance audits for e-commerce (GDPR + Consumer Rights)
Accessibility verification according to European Act (mandatory from June 2025)
Continuous backups to protect sales and customer data
Performance optimization to maximize conversions legally
Priority support for issues affecting your sales

Don't Wait to Receive a Fine

Data protection authorities don't warn before inspecting. User complaints trigger investigations. A competitor can report your website for non-compliance. A dissatisfied customer can claim for violation of their rights.

The question isn't if you'll be audited, but when.

Protect your business now. Hire a professional WordPress maintenance or PrestaShop maintenance service that includes comprehensive legal compliance.

Your website can be your best business asset or your biggest legal liability. You decide.