HOW TO WRITE PRIVACY POLICY

Summarized overview 

 

In this article you will find information about:

1. What a privacy policy is
2. Why you should have one
3. Guidelines for creating a policy
4. A sample privacy policy specific to setting cookies
5. Link to an automated policy generator

 

a. Privacy policy is

 

It’s important to create a privacy policy for web site any blog host. This is simply a document that discloses some or all of the ways you will use information gathered about visitors to your web site. Your privacy policy should outline in plain language how you store and manage information gathered. A solid privacy policy with full disclosure will instill confidence in your readers and protect you from a variety of liability issues.

Information to include in a Cookie Specific Privacy Policy

Write your privacy policy to cover all the bases. 

While all privacy policies should be specific to the site, policies and disclosures need to be more detailed on commerce sites. The more information you gather, and the more other companies have access to it, determines how extensive your policy should be. People aren’t willing to give you their financial information unless they believe their information is protected and secure. Make sure your policy addresses any questions a consumer may have about doing business with you. Examine your business carefully and include in your policy any issue that might be of concern to your customers. You may want to include assurances about any of the following:

• What kind of customer’s personal information is collected. You may want to offer a detailed explanation about why you collect the information in the first place, such as it is needed to communicate with the customer or to ship goods.
• How the customer’s information is securely stored. Include the name of the provider you use. For example, “XYZ.com uses ABC’s state of the art software to securely store your data.”
• How any or all of the information is shared. Include an opt-out option. Inform your customers that you might send information about hem to third parties, and allow them the choice of opting out: you will not be allowed to convey their information without their consent.
• Third-party advertisers on your site and links to their websites. Explain why you are sharing the information with third-party advertisers; perhaps those advertisers need your information to fulfill orders or to send an email confirmation. Customers are not as skittish about sharing information if they understand that it is necessary and beneficial to them.

 

Include a cookie policy  

 

(A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns.) Although cookies are not rocket science, there is a tremendous amount of misinformation and misunderstanding about them concerning privacy. Read about how to create a web site cookie policy that will dispel any apprehension visitors to your site may have.

 

Include a limitation of liability clause 

 

This is a contractual clause that restricts the amount of damages a visitor to your web site can recover.  

 

Two reasons to develop a privacy policy

1. Create a better electronic environment on the internet
2. Laws / legislation may pertain to your business

By letting people know what info is collected and what is done with that information, you can create a transparent environment in which people / consumers are more confident. You can eliminate stress and concerns about abuse of personal info.

Various legislations and legal guidelines, for example in the US and in the UK, are being developed and may affect your website, depending on what information you collect, how you do it, and what you do with it. The European Union has developed similar guidelines that contain a bit too much legal rhetoric to be completely useful.
See resource list below for reference websites.

 

A Sample Privacy Policy

Both of two website to collect visitor data and analyze traffic on our site each other. This information helps us understand customer interests and helps us improve our website. When you visit our site, the pages that you look at, and a short text file called a cookie, are downloaded to your computer. A cookie is used to store small amounts of information. This information is collected for traffic analysis only. The cookie does not contain personal details. Depending on the browser that you use, you can set your preferences to block/ refuse cookies, and/ or notify you before they are placed. Opentracker does not sell, give, or trade the statistics they store to any 3rd parties for data-mining or marketing purposes.

 

Designing your privacy policy

Tell your visitors why tracking cookies are good, why the information is beneficial, that it is used to improve websites and their content. Give an example. If you are collecting information, tell them what you do with that information. Give people an opportunity not to have their info collected, for example by blocking cookies. Explain how people can block cookies. Also explain that cookies are not harmful and cannot introduce viruses or extract personal contact information.

 

Why all the fuss?

There is an important distinction to be made here between cookies and spyware. Spyware collects information about your surfing habits across the internet and sends this information out from your computer. Cookies collect information about your surfing habits only on the site of the provider of the cookie, in other words just on one site.

From our research it appears that most people are concerned that their personal information may be passed on. In this case, there is an important distinction to make between Two Types of Information which are collected:

1. Personally identifiable info/ personal contact info
2. Clickstream/ navigation info

Specific to concerns about cookies, the information being collected does not contain personally identifiable information. Clickstreams are used to see if people return to the same sites, and identify patterns. 

When databases are combined, for example a membership & login base, with a clickstream tracking system, it is possible to combine personal information, such as an email address, with clickstreams. This is where the main cause for concern seems to lie.

The companies that do this; with the resources to combine clickstreams, past purchases, and personal information, are household names, such as amazon.com, ebay, bbc, yahoo, etc.

 

Further Reading

We also recommend taking a look at the privacy policy of a company or website that you like or respect to see what information they consider to be important.

Here is a privacy policy generator where you can also find information about legislation in the 

US (specific to California):

http://www.the-dma.org/privacy/creating.shtml

Legislation in the UK:

http://www.aboutcookies.org/howtocomply.asp

Obviously there is a very real concern for a lot of people that their privacy is being abused. We would like to respond to these concerns, primarily through education, but also by opening up a dialogue on any related questions or ideas.

Generate a Free Privacy Policy Statement

Create a privacy policy for free at Online Privacy Policy Generator. 

This is a fast and simple way to generate a privacy policy that complies with industry standards. You enter the basic information about your web site, provide the URL, and a policy is generated which you can put on your web site. The site is user-friendly and can quickly generate a policy specific to your web site. 

Use the free generator from TermsFeed. 

Terms Feed made available a free Privacy Policy generator that can customize your agreement specific to your business.  

Use a plugin from your web host for blog sites. 

For example, Word Press (WP) offers a Legal Pages plugin. If you have created your web site using WP, you can quickly generate your privacy policy with their plugin.

Create a customized policy. 

If you would prefer to write the entire policy yourself, or to include wording that isn’t standard on other web site policy generator’s sites, you can do so at Free Privacy Policy.com.

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Milan Tomic

Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.

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