How to Add a Privacy Policy to WordPress
WordPress ships with a built-in privacy policy starting point. Here's where to find it, what it actually covers, and where the page needs to live once you've written it.
Last updated: August 2026
WordPress's built-in template
Since WordPress 4.9.6, every install includes a privacy policy page generator under Settings → Privacy. It creates a draft page pre-filled with placeholder sections covering what WordPress itself collects (comments, cookies, embedded content) and leaves blank sections for you to fill in with what your specific site or plugins collect. It's a reasonable skeleton, but it's written for WordPress core, not your actual business.
Customizing it for your site
The built-in template leaves the real substance to you: what forms you have, whether you run analytics or ads, what plugins you use that touch visitor data (contact forms, e-commerce, membership systems), and how visitors can reach you with privacy questions. None of that gets filled in automatically. If you'd rather not edit WordPress's placeholder sections by hand, our privacy statement generator covers the same ground through a short questionnaire, and you can paste the result into a WordPress page instead of working from the built-in draft.
Where it actually needs to appear
Publishing the page isn't the same as making it findable. Add it to your footer menu (Appearance → Menus, most themes have a dedicated footer menu location) so it's visible on every page, not just linked from wherever you happen to have created it. If your site collects data through a specific form or checkout flow, link to the policy from there too, not just the footer.
A note on privacy policy plugins
Several WordPress plugins offer to generate or manage a privacy policy for you, often bundled with cookie-consent functionality. These can save time, but the same rule applies as with any generator: read through what they produce and confirm it actually matches what your site does before you publish it. A plugin doesn't know your business better than you do.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to use WordPress's built-in template?
No. It's a convenient starting draft, but nothing requires you to use it. Our privacy statement generator or template both work just as well pasted into a WordPress page.
Does WordPress automatically publish the privacy policy page?
No. Settings → Privacy creates a draft you still need to review, finish, and publish yourself, and then add to a menu so visitors can actually find it.
Running a WooCommerce store instead of a basic WordPress site?
See privacy policy for Shopify stores, the same categories, accounts, checkout, payment processors, apply to WooCommerce too, even though the specific plugin names differ.
Sources
- WordPress core release history, Settings → Privacy feature since WordPress 4.9.6 (2018)
The version history is stable; the specific menu path could change in a future WordPress redesign and should be spot-checked if this page is refreshed.