Privacy & GDPR

LicenceForge provides built-in support for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other privacy regulations through integration with the WordPress privacy tools framework. This page covers data export, data erasure, IP hashing, and the available REST API endpoints for privacy operations.

Data Export

When a data export request is processed for an email address, LicenceForge's WPLF_Privacy::export_personal_data() method collects and returns all associated data.

Exported Data

The following data categories are included in the export:

// Programmatic data export
$export_data = WPLF_Privacy::export_personal_data( '[email protected]' );
// Returns an array of data groups suitable for the WordPress exporter

Manual JSON Export

Administrators can also trigger a manual JSON export using the export_to_json() method. This produces a downloadable JSON file containing the same data as the WordPress privacy export.

// Manual JSON export
$json = WPLF_Privacy::export_to_json( '[email protected]' );
// Returns a JSON string ready for download

Customer Portal Export

Customers can export their own data directly from the customer portal using the export_data action. This does not require admin intervention and returns the same data set as the admin-initiated export.

Data Erasure

When a data erasure request is processed, WPLF_Privacy::erase_personal_data() anonymises or deletes all personal data associated with the given email address. The process is designed to be thorough while preserving non-personal business records for accounting purposes.

Erasure Actions

The following actions are performed during data erasure:

// Programmatic data erasure
$result = WPLF_Privacy::erase_personal_data( '[email protected]' );
// Returns: [ 'items_removed' => int, 'items_retained' => int, 'done' => bool ]

REST API Endpoints

Administrators can trigger data export and erasure operations programmatically via the REST API. Both endpoints require admin-level authentication.

Export Endpoint

POST /wp-json/wplf/v1/admin/privacy/export

Content-Type: application/json
{
    "email": "[email protected]"
}

Returns a JSON object containing all exportable data for the specified email address.

Erasure Endpoint

POST /wp-json/wplf/v1/admin/privacy/erase

Content-Type: application/json
{
    "email": "[email protected]"
}

Returns a summary of items removed and retained.

IP Address Hashing

Under GDPR, IP addresses are classified as personal data. LicenceForge never stores IP addresses in plaintext. Instead, all IPs are hashed using SHA-256 and truncated to 16 characters via WPLF_Crypto::hash_ip().

How It Works

1. The raw IP address is received from the incoming request.
2. It is immediately passed through hash( 'sha256', $ip ).
3. The resulting 64-character hex string is truncated to 16 characters.
4. Only the truncated hash is stored in the database (audit log, rate limiting records).

// IP hashing implementation
$hashed = substr( hash( 'sha256', $raw_ip ), 0, 16 );
// e.g., "192.168.1.100" becomes "a1b2c3d4e5f67890"

Implications

• The hash is one-way — the original IP cannot be recovered.
• The same IP always produces the same hash, enabling rate limiting and abuse detection.
• The 16-character truncation further reduces the likelihood of reversal through brute force.
• During data erasure, IP hashes are removed from audit log entries entirely.

Data Retention Summary