April 23, 2019 — Lightning Talk

Heather will walk us through a basic overview of what the project is, what we’ve been working on, and what tools we’ve made.

And what is in the planning to help make WordPress Compliant with the new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations).

April 17, 2019 — The web sites and apps we create, both for ourselves and for our clients, need to collect user analytics for a range of reasons ranging from workflow to user experience to security.

However, user tracking can cross the line from insightful anonymised data collection to intrusive personally identifiable monitoring. GDPR, Europe’s revamp of its data protection and privacy regime, becomes enforceable on 25 May – the day before WordCamp Belfast.

The incoming ePrivacy Directive revamp also renews rules on analytics. This double overhaul creates refreshed obligations for you to inform your site users about any counting, tracking, and monitoring you carry out on your web sites and apps, to provide users with options over your counting and tracking, and to ensure that your data collection respects your visitors privacy.

In our talk, we will help you to achieve a healthy balance between data collection and privacy which respects your business, your users, and your refreshed legal obligations.

Our talk will cover:
How to understand your audience so that you can understand their data
Why minimal data collection and retention makes sense from an ethical perspective
What user tracking is and is not permitted under GDPR as well as the ePrivacy Directive revamp
How to explain your use of analytics and tracking in your privacy notices
How to provide your visitors with an opt-out of analytics and tracking
How to collect analytics with the greatest respect for user privacy
How to ensure information is not personally identifiable to an individual (Deaggregation/anonymisation/pseudonymisation)
How to determine a data retention and deletion period
Dealing with third party tools: Google Analytics as our example
What other forms of tracking cross ethical and legal boundaries

September 28, 2018 — I will walk you through the steps you will need to take to bring your privacy notices kicking and screaming into the 21st century in time for May’s enforcement deadline. We’ll cover what the regulation requires, how your notices should be formatted, and how WordPress can pose some interesting challenges for the process.

November 12, 2017 — With GDPR’s deadline day just seven months away, there’s no better time to begin incorporating better data protection and privacy practices into your workflows. Using GDPR’s requirements as well as the Privacy by Design framework as our starting points, I will walk you through some of the steps that healthy compliance should involve in both the front end and the back end. These strategies will range from data minimisation in your database to practical consent methods on your front end to the privacy notices in your footer. We’ll also cover good business practices like technical and security safeguards, staff training, and documentation.

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June 21, 2017 — WordPress powers 27% of the web. We at WordCamp Europe are the 1% of the 27%. Those of us together in Paris, whether we realise it or not, have an enormous position of influence over the web – a position of influence that we choose not to exercise. At a time of sudden and shifting political currents, many of which threaten the stability of our industry, the WordPress community takes no part in the processes that shape our craft. That lack of involvement will not protect us.

It is not our place to claim to speak for “what WordPress wants”, nor is it our place to say that WordPress should determine how the web works per se. It is our place, however, to say that the most talented, experienced, and committed members of our community can and should take a more active role in the bodies and policies that govern the web.

So how can the WordPress community put their experience to work to help develop the standards and regulations which shape our craft?

In my talk, I will provide a positive and inspirational introduction to how the WordPress community can be a force for good in the governance of the web. I will explain why attendees should get involved, what they can expect, and what, in turn, will be expected of them.

Internet governance is ready and waiting for those of us at WordCamp Europe to contribute our voices. First, though, the community needs a toolkit. This talk will provide it.

June 2, 2017 — Heather Burns is a digital law specialist. she research, write, publish, consult, and speak extensively on internet laws and policies, most specifically those that affect the crafts of web design and development. She is working with WordPress since 2008 and designing websites since 1997.
Her talk was on ‘Protecting the Web from Political Uncertainty’. She said in the UK, as a result of the Brexit referendum, designers and developers face losing the legal basis for the freedom of personal movement as well as the freedom of the movement of data which has facilitated the very creation of the digital industry. In the US, the incoming (as of this writing) Trump administration threatens instability on a scale which has spurred many developers, including Matt Mullenweg and many Automatticians, to publicly pledge not to participate in the creation of databases of individuals which could be used to target them for unthinkable actions.

March 15, 2017 — Four months after the UK voted to leave the EU, where are we in terms of its impact on the web profession? How is our work going to change? What new rules might we have to follow? In fact, whose rules might we have to follow? Learn what’s ahead for the next few years, Brexit or not.

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November 1, 2016 — In 2018, Europe upgrades to a new data protection regime. It’s the biggest overhaul of the way we access, use, and store data since 1995.

The new rules will impact everyone who uses or accesses data within the EU as well as businesses serving EU customers – Brexit or not.

We’ll cover what you need to know about how it will affect your work on the web and in your business.

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July 3, 2016 — Hours after the result of the UK’s referendum on EU membership was announced, we tried to make sense of what could be ahead and what may happen with your work.

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December 17, 2015 — Business relationships are like lifts. You don’t notice them when they’re working, but when they break down, your life becomes very difficult very fast. You need a contract to protect you when it happens.

In this talk we’ll walk through the basic elements of a good project contract. Using wisdom gleaned from eight years of full time professional work – as well as a few lessons learned the hard way from difficult clients – you’ll learn how to build your client relationships on a solid and safe footing. We’ll also cover pain points such as IR35, copyright, and abandonment of project.

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