This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) when you make a purchase by clicking on my links.
Have you heard about the General Data Protection Regulation that goes into effect on May 25? These laws regulate how online businesses (including blogs) may collect, store, and use data we collect from anyone living in the European Union.
So, since it only applies to the European Union, are you wondering why I’m telling everyone about it? That’s an excellent question!
While most of my readers live in the United States, I also have a significant number of readers from Canada, Australia, and the UK. A smaller portion of my readers live in various other countries around the world, including Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain. Since several of these countries are part of the European Union, the new GDPR rules apply to my blog.
Beginning on May 25, you’ll see a few changes to NursingHomeVolunteer.com. I don’t want this to confuse anyone, so today I’m summarizing the changes I’m making:
Newsletter subscription updates
For those of you who aren’t aware, I send out a free email newsletter every Tuesday to a group of readers who have choose to subscribe. It contains tips, news, and links to articles that I believe are of interest to my blog readers.
Under the GDPR, bloggers need to change the way we get consent from our newsletter subscribers and how we handle any data we collect from them (such as email addresses).
To simplify the process and reduce the potential for errors, I plan to comply with the GDPR for all of my subscribers, not only those living in the European Union. This will help protect everyone’s privacy.
As a result, each of my subscribers will receive an email requesting that you reconfirm your decision to continue receiving my weekly newsletter. It is my sincere hope that you will continue to subscribe. However, you always have the option to unsubscribe if that’s your desire.
You’ll also see changes in the wording of the newsletter sign-up boxes on my blog. However, my newsletter content will remain unchanged. I’ll continue to provide you with lots of additional inspiration not available in my blog posts.
Privacy Policy
The GDPR requires online businesses (including blogs) to provide additional information in our privacy policies. Please feel free to read my updated version that will be available on May 25. It probably looks like a lot of legal gibberish, but it helps protect your rights as a reader and my rights as a blogger.
Affiliate income
A blog is considered an online business under the GDPR. Therefore, this seems like a good time to bring up what’s called “affiliate income”.
I’ve received a couple of comments asking why I include ads on my blog when it’s written for nursing home volunteers. That’s certainly a fair question!
While I never expect to become wealthy through blogging, it is nice to make a bit of extra income to support the time and money I put into my blog. On average, I spend about 20 hours a week working on various aspects of blogging.
Also, many people aren’t aware that there are expenses involved in operating a blog. These include paying for blog hosting, web design, books and other references, and educational webinars.
You can rest assured that I only post ads on my blog when I feel the products are of interest and value to my readers. And I want no one to feel obligated to purchase anything.
The original purpose of my blog was to enhance the lives of nursing home residents. That remains my primary goal today.
My primary means of doing this is by encouraging and educating nursing home volunteers. However, as my readership expands over time, I’m also striving to include articles that interest others affiliated with nursing homes such as family members and employees.
In conclusion
The GDPR is a complicated beast (It’s 261 pages long!), but the purpose behind it is valid. Do you have questions about the information I presented in today’s post or any upcoming changes to my blog? Please don’t hesitate to contact me: nursinghomevolunteer@gmail.com
And thank you for patiently wading through this entire post!
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