With recent news surrounding internet privacy and data protection, many consumers are expressing concerns about how their personal information is stored, used, and shared. Recent changes in privacy laws have addressed these concerns and are reshaping the privacy landscape.
As a business owner operating a website, having a Privacy Policy is an essential component of your business. Additionally, if your business already has a Privacy Policy, it should be reviewed in light of these new regulations. In this blog post, we will address what a Privacy Policy is, what is typically included in a Privacy Policy and provide some helpful resources for creating and/or updating your Privacy Policy.
What is a Privacy Policy?
Privacy Policies are legal agreements where the business specifies what personal data it collects from its website visitors, how the information is used and how the business keeps the data safe.
Privacy Policy agreements are required by some state, federal and international laws if you are collecting information in any capacity that can be used to identify an individual.
Examples of personal information might include:
- Names
- Dates of birth
- Email addresses
- Billing and shipping addresses
- Phone numbers
- Bank details
- Credit card numbers
- Social security numbers
- IP Address under some circumstances
In addition, there is a law coming into effect on May 25, 2018 in the European Union that defines personal information to include anonymized data, for example, tracking a user’s online behavior to serve personalized ads. The law covers companies located anywhere in the world that target EU consumers, and also may apply if users who are visiting your website come from an EU IP address. You should seek legal advice from counsel with expertise with the GDPR to find out if your business will be affected.
What Information is covered in a Privacy Policy?
Privacy Polices are unique to every company and depending on your type of business and geographical location, different laws and regulations may apply.
A Privacy Policy generally covers:
- The types of information collected by the website or app
- The purpose for collecting the data
- Data storage, security and access
- Details of data transfers
- Affiliated websites or organizations
- Use of cookies and other user tracking technologies
Resources for Creating Your Privacy Policy
For more guidance around creating and updating your Privacy Policy, check out the resources below. Before finalizing your Privacy Policy, you should consult a lawyer for legal review of the privacy laws applicable to your business.
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS BLOG POST IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE OR AN ENDORSEMENT OF ANY SERVICES OR WEBSITE.
Better Business Bureau
Privacypolicytemplate.com
Termsfeed.com
EU General Data Protection (GDPR) Information
