WordPress / WordPress/plugin-check
Privacy: Add check for wp_privacy_personal_data_exporters filter (GDPR personal data export)
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- Dominant language
- PHP
- Stars
- 362
- Forks
- 126
- Avg merge
- 1d 23h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 22
Description
Summary
Plugin Check should detect when a plugin collects personal data but does not register an exporter callback via the wp_privacy_personal_data_exporters filter.
Background
Since WordPress 4.9.6, WordPress ships a Personal Data Export tool to help sites comply with privacy regulations such as the GDPR. Plugins that store personal data are expected to hook into this tool so that admins can generate a complete data export (ZIP file) for any user on request. Registration is done via:
add_filter( 'wp_privacy_personal_data_exporters', 'my_plugin_register_exporters' );
The exporter callback receives a user's email address and a pagination page number, collects the relevant personal data, and returns it as a structured array of grouped items. Exports are cached on the server for 3 days and then automatically deleted.
Reference: https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/privacy/adding-the-personal-data-exporter-to-your-plugin/
Proposed Check
Add a detection rule that warns plugin authors when their plugin appears to handle personal data (e.g. uses add_comment_meta, update_user_meta, custom DB writes, etc.) but does not register a handler for the wp_privacy_personal_data_exporters filter.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
No implementation files, tests, or entry points are named. Start by reading the WordPress personal data exporter reference and the Plugin Check detection architecture; done means a rule reliably identifies plugins handling personal data without registering the wp_privacy_personal_data_exporters filter and warns plugin authors.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- php
- Domain
- tooling
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100