MainWP Blog - Donata Stroink-Skillrud
Donata Stroink-Skillrud is an attorney licensed in Illinois and a Certified Information Privacy Professional. She is also the legal engineer behind Termageddon, a SaaS that has generated thousands of Privacy Policies and successfully kept them up to date with changing legislation. Donata is also the Chair of the American Bar Association's ePrivacy Committee and Vice-Chair of the Chicago Bar Association's Cybersecurity and Privacy Committee. Donata is also the past Chair of the Chicago Chapter of the International Association of Privacy Professionals along with being Privacy Liaison for MainWP.
California’s New Cybersecurity Audit Requirements: What You Need to Know
Published on December 16, 2025 by Donata Stroink-Skillrud under Privacy, Tips & Tricks, WordPress Business, WordPress Security
As many of you know, California leads the nation when it comes to data protection, whether it be the California Online Privacy and Protection Act (CalOPPA), the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), or the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), the State has always been at the forefront of providing privacy protections to consumers. The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) recently enhanced protections for individuals and requirements for businesses by releasing Regulations requiring certain companies to undertake cybersecurity audits. In Continue reading the post...
Vendor Due Diligence: An Important Aspect of Privacy Law Compliance
Published on November 24, 2025 by Donata Stroink-Skillrud under Privacy, Tips & Tricks, WordPress Business, WordPress Security
You have your privacy obligations down pat – you know which privacy laws apply to you, your Privacy Policy is up to date with the latest laws, you don’t track website visitors without consent, and you have a process for replying to privacy rights requests. But have you ensured that your vendors are in compliance too? When you share your customer data with a vendor, you are also responsible for making sure that the vendor processes that data in accordance Continue reading the post...
What you need to know about Tractor Supply’s $1.35 million privacy settlement
On September 30, 2025, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) announced a $1.35 million settlement with the Tractor Supply Company for allegedly violating the privacy rights of residents of California. The CPPA claimed that Tractor Supply violated California privacy requirements by failing to provide an effective mechanism to opt out of the selling or sharing of personal information, failing to have the required disclosures in its Privacy Policy, and failing to have the appropriate contractual protections when disclosing personal information Continue reading the post...
What You Need to Know About the EU Data Act
On September 14, 2025, the major provisions of the EU Data Act went into effect, affecting companies producing connected products, offering related services, and third parties that may receive data from a connected device (even if the company is not located in the EU). The Act provides new rights to access data, implements new product design requirements, makes it easier for consumers to switch between providers, imposes new contract requirements, and more. In this article, we will discuss the major Continue reading the post...
What You Need to Know About the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act
On June 22, 2025, the Governor of Texas signed the Texas Responsible Artificial Governance Act (TRAIGA) into law, prohibiting the development of AI systems for certain purposes, protecting consumers, and developing a sandbox program. This new law goes into effect on January 1, 2026 and includes numerous notable provisions for developers of AI systems, which are discussed below. Who does the Act apply to? The TRAIGA applies to any person who: Promotes, advertisers, or conducts business in Texas; Produces a Continue reading the post...
How to Protect Your Privacy When Using AI Tools
Like it or not, most of us are exposed to or interact with AI tools almost daily. We may interact with an AI chatbot on a website, ask ChatGPT whether cats can eat pancakes, use Fathom to help us take notes during meetings, use Gemini to help us respond to emails, or even have AI analyze our X-rays. While AI can certainly be a very helpful tool, it is not without its risks. As AI becomes more and more integrated Continue reading the post...
The False Security of GDPR Compliance
Published on April 25, 2025 by Donata Stroink-Skillrud under Privacy, Tips & Tricks, WordPress Business
As a privacy attorney, I wish that I had a dollar for every time someone told me that they are fully compliant with all privacy laws because they have a GDPR compliant Privacy Policy, they provide GDPR privacy rights to everyone, or they ensure that their employees follow the GDPR rules for processing personal data. Since GDPR is one of the strictest privacy laws out there, many business owners assume that if they are compliant with GDPR, they will automatically Continue reading the post...
Tips for Employee Information Security Training
Published on March 21, 2025 by Donata Stroink-Skillrud under Privacy, WordPress Business, WordPress Security
We all make mistakes. Maybe we hold the door for a stranger to be polite, allowing them to enter our building, ignore a warning to update our browsers because we have a busy day ahead of us, or allow a coworker to log into our email to resolve a customer issue. While these actions may seem innocuous, they can lead to extremely costly security incidents and data breaches. In fact, recent studies have found that 88% of cybersecurity breaches were Continue reading the post...
Tips for Employee Privacy Training
Published on February 21, 2025 by Donata Stroink-Skillrud under Privacy, WordPress Business, WordPress Security
As more and more privacy laws go into effect every year, privacy compliance obligations are only increasing for businesses. For example, you may now be required to allow customers to delete their data, be more careful as to who receives your marketing emails, and include privacy checkboxes on every form on your website. These types of obligations can affect every part of your business and every employee. Since most privacy violations are caused by employee mistakes, it is imperative that Continue reading the post...
Siri Eavesdropping Lawsuit Sheds Light on Apple’s Privacy Woes
Have you ever had a conversation in your home and Siri turns on without you saying the activation phrase, “hey Siri”? Or maybe you’re discussing couch options with your spouse and all of a sudden you are seeing endless ads for couches even though you never searched for a couch on your phone. Well, it seems like this creepy mystery has finally been solved – a lawsuit alleging that Apple’s Siri has been eavesdropping on conversations is being settled for Continue reading the post...
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