Privacy Policy Checker: What Your Policy Must Include and How to Check It

A privacy policy checker answers three questions: can visitors actually find your policy, does it contain the disclosures the law expects, and does it match what your website really does? Most small-business sites fail on the first or third point, not the second. Here's how to check all three yourself.

Check 1: Is the policy linked where people (and regulators) look?

Open your homepage and every page with a form. There should be a visible "Privacy Policy" link, usually in the footer, on every page. Also check checkout, sign-up, and contact forms: anywhere you collect a name, email, or phone number should link to the policy near the submit button. A policy that only exists at a URL nobody can reach doesn't do its job.

Check 2: Does it contain the required sections?

Read your policy against this list. These are the items GDPR (Article 13) and California's CCPA/CPRA expect, and the ones free checkers flag most often:

• Who you are: your business name and a way to contact you about privacy (an email address, not just a contact form).
• What you collect and why: categories of data (contact details, payment info, IP address, cookies) and the purpose of each.
• Legal basis (if you have EU/UK visitors): consent, contract, or legitimate interest for each purpose.
• Who you share it with: payment processors, email platforms, analytics, ad networks, and whether data leaves the country.
• How long you keep it: a retention period or the rule you use to decide.
• People's rights and how to use them: access, correction, deletion, opt-out, and for California, "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" if you sell or share data for advertising.
• Children: whether your site is aimed at kids under 13.
• Last updated date: a policy with no date, or one older than 12 months, is a red flag to reviewers.

The three gaps policy checkers report most often are a missing legal basis, no retention period, and no clear way to submit a deletion or access request.

Check 3: Does the policy match your site?

This is where generic template policies fall apart. Open your site, then open your browser's developer tools (F12), go to the Network tab, and reload. Note every third-party domain that loads: Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, Hotjar, TikTok, chat widgets, YouTube embeds, booking tools. Each one collects data, and each should be named (or at least described by category) in your policy. If a tracker loads before the visitor clicks "Accept" on a cookie banner, that's a consent problem in the EU and a growing one in U.S. states with privacy laws.

Check 4: Cookie consent and opt-outs

• If you use analytics or ad pixels and get EU/UK traffic, you need a cookie banner that blocks those tags until consent, with "Reject" as easy as "Accept".
• Several U.S. states now expect sites to honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signal as an opt-out of sale or sharing.
• If you collect phone numbers for texts or calls, your form needs clear TCPA consent wording next to the phone field.

Fixing what you find

Missing link: add it to your footer template so it appears site-wide. Missing sections: update the policy (a reputable generator is fine as a starting point) and then edit it so it names the tools you actually use. Trackers firing early: use a consent tool that supports blocking scripts until opt-in. Then set a calendar reminder to review the policy every 12 months or whenever you add a new tool.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. If you handle sensitive data (health, finance, kids), have a lawyer review your policy.

Check it the fast way

Want a second opinion in under a minute? Scan your site free with SiteShield. It checks whether your homepage links a privacy policy, whether a cookie notice or consent tool is present, and TCPA consent wording near phone fields, plus HTTPS, security headers, SPF, and DMARC and shows your score and every issue found. If you'd rather skip the trial and error, the $14 fix bundle gives you copy-paste fixes written for your exact site.

Check your site free