A privacy audit tells you exactly where your website stands against GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy regulations. It identifies cookies, trackers, consent issues, security vulnerabilities, and compliance gaps — so you can fix them before regulators or users find them. Here's how to run a complete audit in under 60 seconds.
What Is a Privacy Audit?
A privacy audit is a systematic review of your website's data collection practices, security measures, and regulatory compliance. It covers everything from what cookies are set to whether your privacy policy meets legal requirements.
A comprehensive audit checks:
- Cookies & Trackers: What cookies are set, their purpose, and whether consent is obtained
- Consent Banner: Whether your banner is compliant and functional
- Privacy Policy: Completeness and accuracy of disclosures
- Security Headers: Presence of CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options
- Email Authentication: SPF, DKIM, DMARC configuration
- Third-Party Scripts: External dependencies and their data practices
- Accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA compliance for the EAA
- AI Systems: Detection of AI chatbots and personalization (EU AI Act)
Step-by-Step Audit Process
Step 1: Automated Scan (60 seconds)
Start with an automated scan to get a baseline. Go to PrivacyChecker.pro, enter your domain, and click "Check Compliance." The scanner analyzes your website across 50+ privacy checks and returns a score from 0-100 with a detailed breakdown.
Step 2: Review Your Score
Your privacy score is broken down into categories:
| Category | What's Checked |
|---|---|
| Cookies & Trackers | Number and type of cookies, consent mechanism |
| Consent Behavior | Banner presence, reject option, pre-checked defaults |
| Dark Patterns | Manipulative design in consent flows |
| Security | HTTPS, security headers, mixed content |
| SPF, DKIM, DMARC records | |
| Third-Party Risk | External scripts, vendor security |
| Accessibility | WCAG 2.1 AA criteria |
Step 3: Fix Critical Issues First
Prioritize issues by severity:
- Critical: No consent banner, trackers firing without consent, missing HTTPS
- High: Missing SPF/DKIM/DMARC, no privacy policy, pre-checked consent boxes
- Medium: Missing security headers, accessibility issues, stale DNS records
- Low: Optimization opportunities, minor policy improvements
Step 4: Implement Fixes
For each issue found, PrivacyChecker Pro provides step-by-step fix instructions specific to your platform:
- Fix your cookie consent banner
- Add security headers
- Configure email authentication
- Remove dark patterns
- Improve accessibility
Step 5: Re-Scan and Verify
After implementing fixes, run another scan to verify improvements. Your score should improve immediately for technical fixes (headers, DNS) and within 24-48 hours for changes that require DNS propagation.
Step 6: Set Up Continuous Monitoring
Privacy compliance isn't a one-time event. Websites change constantly — new plugins, updated scripts, and configuration changes can break your compliance. Set up automated monitoring to catch issues as they appear.
Free vs Pro Audit
| Feature | Free | Pro | Pro+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Privacy score | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cookie & tracker list | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Security headers check | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fix recommendations | Summary | Detailed | Detailed |
| Email deliverability | Basic | Full (A-F grade) | Full |
| Accessibility audit | No | No | 15+ WCAG checks |
| AI detection | No | No | Yes |
| Supply chain audit | No | No | Yes |
| Scheduled scans | No | Yes (weekly) | Yes (daily) |
| PDF report | No | Yes | Yes |
Start your free privacy audit now. Enter your domain and get your score in under 60 seconds.