No later than According to the GDPR, data protection should be a high priority in all companies. For website operators, it has long been standard to integrate a corresponding data protection declaration, imprint, and cookie banner.
But it is about social media Marketing, and the subject of data protection is often ignored. According to the GDPR, there is also an obligation to integrate a data protection declaration and to provide information about the collection of personal data.
But why is this necessary at all? What does a data protection declaration for social media have to contain and how is it properly integrated? We explain everything to you about data protection for company channels in social networks!
Why privacy matters in social media marketing
Social media marketing is booming! According to Statista, 46% of all companies were already using social networks as an advertising platform in 2022. This makes it the most popular online marketing tool, ahead of email newsletters and search engine marketing (SEO & SEA).
No wonder nowhere else do you meet the target group as precisely as in social media. On average, people currently have 8.6 social media accounts. It doesn’t matter what your company offers – you will find your target group on social media.
This is mainly ensured by collecting data that enable people to be tracked exactly according to their behavior and address their interests. How exactly they are collected is always a kind of gray area on Facebook & Co. . And this is where data protection comes into play.
Data protection should generally ensure that users keep their personal data can protect. This is specifically regulated by the GDPR.
A gigantic amount of data is collected on social networks. This is important for network operators because the main source of income arises from trading in data and advertising.
The companies behind the networks are therefore repeatedly criticized. Because data leaks occur more frequently and accounts are not completely safe from hacking attacks. Overall, social media platforms have a dubious reputation for exploiting every possible loophole in privacy laws.
As a company, you could now think: What does that have to do with me and my social media marketing? The answer is a lot! Because as a channel operator you are considered jointly responsible and must accordingly fulfill the information obligation.
This means: You must provide information about the data collected so that Users have the option of not using your channel. How do you do this correctly? Unfortunately, it is legally a complex field …
A data protection declaration for legally compliant social media marketing
According to the GDPR, you are obliged to make all relevant data protection information accessible on your social media channels close. Incidentally, this is just as mandatory as the integration of an imprint.
In the privacy policy for social media marketing, you must share responsibility Clarify with the social network and explain who is responsible for what exactly.
In addition, you must provide information about which data you can see and which data is processed by the social network. Here you should refer to the network privacy statements.
You see: The creation of a data protection declaration for social media is a complex process, which is usually made more difficult by the fact that the networks themselves do not work completely transparently in these areas.
Correspondingly important is that everything is in order, at least from your side. At the point once again the note: This article is not binding legal advice. If you need them, be sure to contact the appropriate legal experts.
With the explanation of the scope of the data protection declaration for social media, we want to create awareness for this sensitive topic.
Where can you embed the privacy policy?
A common answer to the correct installation: not at all! Because many companies simply ignore the obligations of data protection on social media and do not offer any information options or an imprint.
So that you can do this better and set up your social media marketing legally, we have put together the possibilities of the most popular networks for you:
Facebook: Facebook provides under the tab “Further information” an extra field for the data protection declaration ready. Simply enter the appropriate link here, that’s it.
LinkedIn: Unfortunately, LinkedIn does not have a special field for data protection declaration. The installation makes sense, however, e.g. B. in the “Info” tab. There you can deposit a link to your website, which should lead directly to the imprint and data protection declaration. Don’t worry: In this case, you can integrate the link to the home page of your website using a button that is displayed above the navigation right next to the button for networking.
Instagram: The popular network offers only one way to embed a link: directly at the top of the Biography. It is not without reason that the phrase “link in the bio” has become something of a catchphrase in posts. Since there is only one possibility for integrating the link, you cannot avoid integrating the data protection declaration there from a purely legal point of view. Of course, you also want to be able to link to other pages. The solution for this: is self-made.
Linktree: So you create a landing page via which data protection and imprint for social media can be reached directly. At the same time, you can also insert links to blog articles, etc. that you refer to in your posts.
YouTube: On YouTube, you can under “Channel info” several links deposit. Here you simply include the data protection declaration and the imprint with clear naming.
You must note this when integrating the link
It is essential that the link is clearly recognizable as access to the data protection declaration and imprint is. So it is not enough to name it on Instagram as Bestseo.com/linktree. Because here it is not immediately clear what information is to be expected.
With Facebook, the problem is unnecessary because there are special fields for the links. You also have the option of integrating the links behind clearly named link texts (“Privacy Policy”, “Imprint”) on YouTube.
It becomes more difficult with LinkedIn and Instagram. There are no special fields and no naming option. It is therefore legally safe to name the link accordingly.
If you also want to point out that there is more information behind the link.
All this effort is legally necessary to enable the legally required and unambiguous access to the data protection declaration and imprint via social media.
Set up your social media marketing in compliance with data protection regulations
If you do not yet meet the requirements for data protection in social media, then you should change this as soon as possible. Violations of the GDPR can result in high compensation payments.
Of course, someone has to be found to report the relevant misconduct. But since the GDPR, more and more warning agencies have been active, specifically looking for such errors.
In terms of the GDPR – before But above all in the interests of your target group – you should take care to set up your data protection correctly. Then the situation is transparent and harmless for everyone involved!
