A Guide to Drafting a Private Policy

A Guide to Drafting a Private Policy

A privacy policy is the set of guidelines that governs how a business or organization that runs a website manages the personal data that is gathered about site users. For the majority of us consumers, privacy entails upholding our moral character and our freedom to decide whether or not to give our personal information to other parties, as well as preventing unsolicited communications from reaching us if we do not wish to be contacted.
Why has consumer concern over privacy increased over the past few years? The explanation is that consumers want assurances before disclosing personal information to an unknown party. Even though they may truly enjoy and frequently visit your website, they will become wary if you ask for their name. Additionally, they get concerned about what you will do with all that information if you ask for their address, phone number, credit card number, bank name, account number, health history, or details about their present employment. Is it fair to blame them? You obviously cannot. What you need to do is make sure your privacy policy is effective and transparent, addressing some of the fundamental but important components of their worry.

The following are significant factors to consider while drafting your organization's privacy policy:
1) Describe the kinds of data you gather and the purposes for which you utilize it.
Give comfort. Give visitors a clear explanation of the kinds of information you request from them and what you plan to do with it. What additional information, other personal data, do you monitor? Do you gather data from young people? How do you confirm the parents' agreement to the use of their child's information? Recall that knowledge is power, and while roughly two thirds of Internet users could be amenable to a promise that their privacy will not be violated, the remaining quarter are deeply concerned about the potential uses of their personal data. Thus, you will almost certainly run into major legal issues if your website mines raw transaction data in order to identify visitors, generate new offers, or sell their names to merchandisers. You will therefore need to provide an explanation of how you share that information both inside and outside of your family of companies.
2) Describe the security features of your server and online operations.
You've already informed individuals about the information you request and how you use it, but that is only the beginning. You will then need to describe the security features of your server and online activities. When asked questions like "How do you make sure nobody steals my credit card information?" or "How do you protect the privacy of my emails to your customer support team?" you definitely don't want to be caught off guard and given no explanation. Describe the indicators that your customers can look for to determine if they are indeed on a secure server: a change in the URL, icons that appear on the status bar, etc. You may even try to describe Secure Sockets Layer and encryption. Above all, focus on the benefits to the customer. Unless you can specifically benefit them, most customers won't give a damn about all the security precautions you take or the money you spend to make your website secure.
3) Let patrons leave
People will want to know how to start or stop getting emails from you when they read your Privacy Policy for the first time. Offering clients the choice to opt-in or opt-out is a terrific method to reduce their personal barriers and foster trust. Even though it hurts to lose a customer, you have to respect their decision to unsubscribe from your emails if they indicate that they are no longer interested in receiving them. People's needs, desires, and interests might change over time. You must allow your consumers to access and remove their own personal profiles and accounts in order to preserve their privacy. One of the organizations established to combat spam, The Anti SPAM League, believes that it is a good idea to allow people to opt into your email newsletter twice: once by checking the box and clicking the Submit button, and again by replying to the email notification that they can subscribe if they reply. This is because spam is one of the biggest invasions of privacy. When someone chooses to volunteer for the email, double opt-in increases the likelihood that they are doing responsibly. Don't forget to offer a way for customers to "unsubscribe" at the bottom of every newsletter you email them. Of course, you will have a much more serious issue because your business is at risk if the majority of your clients ask to be taken off of your mailing list. However, you must always provide an escape route for your clients.
4) Permit clients to access and amend their personal data
People are likely to contribute even more information if you allow them to examine and amend it. This makes sense from a very simple perspective: very few people erase their own data. Therefore, always include prominent labels telling customers how to change their personal information whenever it is displayed. Give them explicit instructions on how to view and amend their data, such as "Log in and click the 'Change User Info' link in the box on the right-hand side of every page to access all of your personally identifiable information that we collect online." Additionally, respond to inquiries like "Can I review information you have about my child?" that certain customers may find to be of utmost importance.
5) Notify clients of modifications to policies
Most companies periodically update their privacy policies. If your company is one of these, let your clients know how they may receive those updates and adjustments. Put something like this in your privacy policy: "Please check back periodically for updates as new versions will be posted on this web site."
6) Provide your clients with the contact information for any privacy-related inquiries.
People may occasionally have specific inquiries that your privacy policy does not address. For instance, people should know who to contact if they have any questions regarding privacy or where to find out more information on their right to privacy. Always provide a means for customers to contact you with any privacy-related questions. In terms of assurance, this makes a big difference.
7) Compose a clear privacy statement for the public.
Finally, but just as importantly, this matter can mean the difference between a business you can trust and one that appears to be fine but that you feel you can't trust. Regretfully, attorneys write the majority of privacy policies, which means they are overly technical. While we do not doubt the usefulness of legalese, we stress that a privacy policy does not have to be overly formal or sophisticated. To ensure that the average consumer can grasp it with no effort, it simply needs to be plain and easy. The entire goal of the policy—to foster trust—is undermined if you utilize industry or internal jargon without providing context, giving readers the impression that you are pulling their strings. Yes, you will need to discuss your security measures, but before you use technical terms that are unfamiliar to most people, speak to them in simple terms.
Two words best describe our recommendations for creating an effective privacy policy: "Keep it simple" and "Don't lie to your customers." Visit www.Anti-Spam-League.org to find out more about this and related subjects. Free membership to this group gives access to a wealth of pertinent information on a variety of subjects, including ethical marketing, Internet fraud, spam, email abuse, and privacy.
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