We have probably all seen them on various websites, but do you know the purpose of Writing A Privacy Policy for your site? There are more reasons than simply making visitors feel more comfortable.
Why Post A Privacy Policy?
According to Wikipedia, a privacy policy is “a legal document dealing with the information related to customers’ and merchants’ private profiles.”
As mentioned above, visitors who see a privacy policy listed on your website are more apt to feel secure about giving you their information; hence, more likely to make a purchase.
It does offer some protection to the consumer in that a company that posts such a policy can hardly claim ignorance if personal information is sold to a third party.
But more than these reasons for Writing A Privacy Policy, certain advertising partners, such as Google Adsense, require it. From Google’s site, the terms of service specifically state “AdSense publishers must have and abide by a privacy policy that discloses that third parties may be placing and reading cookies on your users’ browsers, or using web beacons to collect information as a result of ad serving on your website.”
The Basics Of Writing A Privacy Policy
There are several tips to keep in mind when creating your website policy. The following list covers the most basic aspects of what to include and how to do it:
• State what personal information you are collecting, why you are asking for it, and how it will be used.
• Who will have access and for how long?
• Assurance that the website, the server, and your web hosting service is secure.
• Specifically state if the information will ever be disclosed to any other parties, who they are, and how these entities will keep the information secure.
• Make it transparent if your site is set up to place cookies or web bugs on the user’s computer.
• Write in plain English that is easy to understand. You are protecting your visitor’s rights, and if they can’t understand the legal jargon, it is meaningless.
• If your policy ends up being very lengthy, consider adding a link to a downloadable .pdf file.
• Give visitors the ability to opt out if they do not agree with the terms of the privacy policy.
Tools For Creating A Privacy Policy
If you are Writing A Privacy Policy for the first time, you might want to take a look at competing sites and use the basic gist of their verbiage.
The Platform for Privacy Preferences Project and its P3P guidelines are available online. The site also includes a standard format any webmaster can use with appropriate additions for their particular application.
The Direct Marketing Association also provides a free Privacy Policy Generator. You merely need to input some data and it returns a page written in HTML that can easily be customised and added to your website. In the United States, the Better Business Bureau offers a similar tool.
Remember that a privacy policy not only makes your customers feel more secure, it is required for participation in certain affiliate programs such as Google Adsense. With free tools and help available online, there is no reason you cannot create your own privacy policy and avoid problems regarding concerns over personal data.
About Sean Rasmussen
It is very important that children will realize the importance of knowing how to write so that they will be motivated to learn how to write well.
E-mail marketing is an efficient way of marketing as youngsters make it a point to twice or thrice a week, as they are addicted to the internet. So our mail will not go unnoticed. I came to know the merits associated with e-mail marketing on reading your article .You have conveyed the message clearly and wonderfully.
Great post Sean. That’s so true, and it’s not usually a talked about subject but it is important. The more security and trust you build with your visitors the better in sales conversions. I them all, privacy policy, earnings disclaimer, legal disclaimer etc. These policies also protect you on the legal side to, so it’s a must have.
Thanks for the post Sean
It’s something I do need to do but didn’t know where to start. Is this the appropriate place to put a disclaimer about affiliate commissions?
I have a question about disclaimers? I feel the need to write one but don’t know where to start.
I write blogs that some people – like celebrities – may take offence to. I want to protect myself. Can you guide me in the right direction? And where is the best place to place a disclaimer on a blog?
Hi Sean,
I’m not that confident in writing my own privacy policy. I’ve seen sites where you can buy them and be able to use them on as many websites as you wish. Do you think these would be safe to buy?
I have seen them available from legal websites Jazz. Do some searching and I am sure you will find something that you are comfortable with.
I certainly wouldn’t buy one – it’s not necessary as there are many free examples – even just checking ones on good sites and related to yours will suffice. Or check the tools Sean has above.
Privacy is a big issue these days. By how far can you get in trouble if you don’t have a privacy policy on your page?
Google requires them – and it is more for their protection than yours. Google couldn’t care less about you – witness their recent giving details to the Chinese Government of sites etc.
I also wonder about the legal standing of such – might have little or no force for protection in law – given how many different legal systems there are world-wide.
Make yours as bland as possible
I would like to get a disclaimer from an actual legal website as you suggested.
I hadn’t even thought about this so I am pleased I found this article.
The PP statements are fairly standard it seems. If you check ones on reliable and related sites you can almost copy and paste – with requisite changes of course. It’s not necessary to re-invent the wheel.
I actually wonder if anyone reads privacy policies or acts upon them. One of the things is reassurance that the web host is secure – how can we really know that? We also have no way of knowing if third parties will keep information secure.
We will have to delve deeper into this issue.
Maybe the Dept of Trade Practices could steer us in the right direction?
I would rather know for sure than just make a guess.