19/04/2018
Etsy policies are about to change in May 2018
Etsy is about to bring a number of updates to their policies during the May 2018, and those changes are to be quite significant.
The major impact on these changes comes from the new GDPR standards, but there are also changes that will increase business transparency, as well as the certain functionalities on the platform itself.
The overall result should be a new and enhanced experience for both sellers and shoppers alike, and Etsy hopes that these changes will put some order into the entire business model they’ve been pushing. Some of these changes were forced, due to the new set of standards in the EU countries, while the others are mostly the result of a natural evolution. The changes that will come into place can be separated in 3 groups:
• Transparency improvements
• GDPR implementation
• Functionality improvements
Transparency improvements
In this segment, there is a new approach which allows all Etsy users to better monitor how their data are being collected and for what purposes they are being used afterwards. There is also a full explanation on how to control those data and the choices that are being provided to the users.
GDPR
The EU and all its members will start enforcing their new law that deals with the data protection. GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) will come in effect on May 25th 2018, and from this day forward all the websites that are available for the EU area will have to meet the standards it prescribes. It is one of the most significant shifts that have been introduced into the online world, and the effects will be felt for the years to come. Etsy, as one of the premier options in its niche will start doing business with the full respect of the GDPR from day one.
Functionality improvements
The new option in this segment is fully related to the previous two. Based on the location of the users, they will be provided with an option to view, download or delete their personal information.
The first quarter of the 2018 saw $1 billion in trade made via Etsy, and everything indicates that these new rules will only enhance the overall experience of the website. The company has been always up to date with the latest improvements, and these new changes seem to follow that line.