Your customers have a right to know how you handle their personal data. Whether you are processing credit card payments, saving their shipping or contact information, or simply signing them up for a newsletter, customers should know what data your business collects and how it is used. A good privacy policy does just this.
Are privacy policies required by law?
It depends. In general, the Federal Trade Commission recommends privacy policies for most websites that collect and share consumer data. But laws differ from place to place and may depend on what data you collect.
In the United States, federal laws require privacy policies for businesses collecting sensitive data, such as personal information from children under 13, protected health information, or information collected to provide certain financial products or services (e.g., loans, investment advice, insurance) to consumers. But some states have their own requirements for privacy policies. Canada also has regulations about privacy online.
Tips for writing an effective privacy policy:
Even if you’re not processing sales on your site, you may be collecting your visitors’ personal data to generate leads, make appointments, manage newsletter subscriptions, or to share with advertisers. And those actions are supported by a privacy policy. As you begin to implement one for your business, be sure to do the following:
Keep it visible. Don’t make your privacy policy hard to find. Consider including a prominent link in the header or footer of every page so visitors can check out your policy before interacting with your site. At a minimum, your privacy policy should be linked to your homepage and any other pages where data is collected.
Keep it simple. The policy is a legal document, but consumers don’t want to read technical jargon or legalese. Your privacy policy should be clear, concise, and written in plain language so that your customers can readily understand how you handle their information.
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