
In a statement by the founder of WPBeginner, the average website utilizes around 30 plugins for functions such as analytics, SEO, and payment processing. As website owners increasingly rely on online tools and plugins, ensuring compliance with data protection laws has become more challenging. Since the introduction of the GDPR, fines within the EU have surged by over 200%, with penalties ranging from a few hundred euros to significantly larger amounts.
With that said, it is still the responsibility of the website owner to ensure that these tools adhere to data protection regulations. To help your business start the new year as risk-free as possible, this post will take a look at privacy-friendly tools for 2025. We will see how these tools have been adapted to data protection standards and which specific articles of the GDPR must be observed.
What is the GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a data privacy and security law, enacted by the European Union (EU) in May 2018. Being the most strict privacy law in the world, its scope applies to companies and organizations that target users within the EU regardless of location. Its primary goal is to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens and residents. The regulation imposes strict guidelines for companies on data collection, storage, processing, and sharing.
Important articles of the GDPR that website tools need to be aware of
Lawful and transparent data processing
- All data processing activities must be accurately recorded, including the purpose, type of data, access permissions and protective measures.
- Users must be clearly informed about what data is being collected and why, usually through a clearly written privacy policy. Processing of personal data is only allowed if one of the six legal bases in Article 6 of the GDPR is met, for example, if the user’s explicit consent has been obtained through a cookie banner.
Protection of personal data
- Online tools must implement technical and organisational measures such as encryption and anonymisation to protect personal data in accordance with Article 5.
- In the event of a data breach, the authorities must be informed within 72 hours. Affected users must also be notified quickly if there is a risk to their rights.
Accountability and data protection officers
- Data protection agreements must be in place with all service providers that process personal data to ensure their data protection measures.
- Appointing a data protection officer (DPO) is essential (Article 37) to ensure compliance with the GDPR and to manage responsibilities for data protection within an organisation.
Exercise of data protection rights by users
- Users must have easy access to their personal data and can request that their data be changed or deleted.
Top privacy-friendly website tools
Below are privacy-friendly tools from a variety of categories:
Appointment scheduling tool: Simplybook.me
Simplybook.me is an online booking tool designed for service-based industries. It offers both free and paid plans starting at €8.25/month. The company has developed internal privacy-friendly policies and procedures, including updating its terms and conditions and privacy policy, and provides a data processing agreement on its website. Simplybook.me also provides the right to withdraw consent by providing easy-to-find unsubscribe links in all email communications, including promotional messages, to allow customers to opt out. To restrict access to personal data, Simplybook.me applies the principle of least possible intervention. In addition, customer support requests are secured by double authentication.
Website builder tool: Webnode
Webnode is a website builder that makes it easy to create a professional website in minutes. Users can start with a pre-designed template and easily customise it directly in their browser, or use the AI website builder to generate content. It offers a free plan as well as paid plans starting from €3.90 per month. To protect personal data, Webnode does not share customer data with third parties. Data from user profiles is no longer stored even after a profile has been deleted. With a privacy policy, cookie banner and cookie policy in place, end users are given information about which third-party cookies are running on the site when they exercise their privacy preferences.
Analytics tool: Matomo
Matomo is an analytics tool that can be configured to be privacy friendly. It offers features such as anonymisation of data, the ability for users to opt out of tracking, and the ability to delete visitor data upon request. Matomo is available in both a free and a paid version starting at €22 per month. For users who already use Matomo, integrating consentmanager into your cookie banner is very straightforward. The steps can be found here: https://www.consentmanager.net/en/blog/2023/03/22/how-to-add-matomo-to-your-cookie-banner-3-step-tutorial/
Live chat and customer support tool: Userlike
Userlike is a live chat and customer support tool with paid packages starting at €130 per month. In addition to encrypted chats, Userlike offers features such as secure data storage, automatic data deletion and role-based data access. The software is developed and hosted in Germany. All chat data is stored securely on EU servers in Germany.
What you should do if you are running a website
Audit your tools and plugins
Audit all plugins and tools running on your website. Use a cookie crawler that thoroughly scans your website and provides a detailed report on your GDPR compliance.

Update your cookie policy
Update your cookie policy to clearly define the types of cookies you use, their purpose and how user data is processed. Make sure that they reflect the tools you use on your website.
Use a consent management platform to manage various tools on your website
Make sure that all your tools are listed in your cookie banner and connected to a consent management platform. This way, you can be sure that the tools are only activated based on the user’s consent settings.

Not sure if your website is compliant? You can check here for free whether your website and the tools you use meet all the requirements of the GDPR: https://www.consentmanager.net/en/cookies