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Some guides (see gohugo.io or webmasters.stackexchange.com for examples) recommend Disqus as a commenting feature for static sites.

Is adding Disqus to a website safe for user privacy?

UPD

Should I trust to Disqus if I want to keep my visitors calm?

Y.N
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  • In what sense? Disqus has its own privacy policy, your have to read through it. To use Disqus people need an account and they accept the privacy terms of DISQUS when signing up. – Simon Hayter Apr 27 '17 at 08:44
  • I think, Disqus addon injects too many tracking and collecting dependencies. It's not good. – Y.N Apr 27 '17 at 09:00

2 Answers2

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Disqus has its own Privacy Policy that you can link to from your own Privacy Policy so that you can inform users that Disqus, a third-party you use, may collect personal data through the embeddable commenting plugin. Disqus discloses what kind of personal data it collects at the "Personally Identifiable Information" clause:

Personally Identifiable Information from Disqus via TermsFeed

And Disqus links to its Privacy Policy agreement through that "Privacy" icon:

Disqus Privacy Icon via TermsFeed

One thing that you might want to look into is the EU Cookies Directive. The directive requires notification to EU users about usage of cookies on a website. There are some differences across EU countries on notification and consent.

Since Disqus uses cookies, you might be required to inform EU users that your website uses cookies (through third-parties like Disqus). Example of a common notification bar:

EU Cookies Bar Notification Example via TermsFeed

termsfeed
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  • This mean Disqus lawyers has builds the strong defence. It's not answering - should I use this service if I want to keep my visitors calm – Y.N Apr 27 '17 at 17:40
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Below is a list of websites, that track your visitors activity when you choose to use Disqus:

google-analytics.com
connect.facebook.net
accounts.google.com
pippio.com
bluekai.com
crwdcntrl.net
exelator.com
doubleclick.net
tag.apxlv.net
adnxs.com
rlcdn.com
adbrn.com
nexac.com
tapad.com
liadm.com
sohern.com
demdex.net
bidswitch.net
mathtag.com
Deka87
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    Can you provide references? How do these sites "track your visitor" activity? – MrWhite Apr 27 '17 at 11:39
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    @w3dk, those are being loaded with a disqus plugin when a visitor opens your page. You can easily check that by looking at your browser console. Most of the aforementioned websites collect data for marketing purposes. https://hsto.org/files/a1a/3e3/02f/a1a3e302f4974b4093251befda71d3d4.png – Deka87 Apr 27 '17 at 17:12