The privacy policy is an important part of any website. This document is a guarantee of the safety of you and your visitors. In fact, this document does not differ much on sites, since it consists of data about the resource, the order of interaction and storage, processing, and transmission of visitors’ personal information.
The main rule when creating a privacy policy is to make it as simple and understandable as possible. The information should be complete and clear so that your readers have no questions about the transfer of their personal data.
Now let’s take a closer look at the nuances of creating this important document.
What is a privacy policy?
A privacy policy is a statement that discloses some or all of the ways in which a website collects, uses, discloses and manages data from its visitors and customers. It fulfills legal requirements to protect the privacy of the visitor or customer.
Countries have their own laws with different privacy policy requirements in each jurisdiction.
Publication of the policy is a mandatory element of the site. Since websites interact with people all over the world, the privacy policy must comply with the relevant laws of the countries.
It is important to know the principle that if the visitor interacts at will, then your law is respected. And if you are the initiator of interaction with the user, then you need to take into account the laws of his country.
For example, if you or your visitors are US citizens, then you must adhere to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), if this applies to Canadian citizens, then make a policy based on the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and if you and the audience are EU citizens, please consider the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
It’s very simple, location affects the form and content of your website’s privacy policy.
Storage of personal data
The site owner decides where, when and how to store the personal data of readers. Some sites save information for a long time, while others do not see the need for this, and delete them for some time.
In fact, the storage time of information depends on the need to use and store it. For example, it can be for a while there is interaction with the site or while an active account, etc.
Privacy policy location
There is no required or universal place to locate this document. That is, the author can independently resolve this issue, based on the design and convenience of the site. The main thing is that the privacy policy should be easily accessible to readers, and access to it should be simple.
There are different options for document location. For example, it can be in the format of an independent page, the link to which will be on the main page. It will be enough for readers to follow the link in one click and get acquainted with the policy. Most often, the privacy policy is located at the bottom of the site, in the footer or in the main menu.
If your site interacts with the audience using any forms with personal data, then the policy should be in each individual form. This is shown as a paragraph with an acceptance of the policy terms next to the link to the full text of the document.
This is an important point to keep you and your readers safe. Therefore, when creating a site, consider this procedure so that visitors cannot submit a form with their data without confirming their consent to the privacy policy.
Responsibility for non-compliance with the privacy policy
Visitors to the site most often do not even pay attention to this important document and confirm everything without reading. Although in fact, for non-compliance of one of the parties with the obligation, liability may follow.
In different countries, there may be different liability for breach of work with personal data. Many countries at the legislative level have fixed high penalties for violation of work with personal data. For example, if a site publishes personal data, transfers it to third parties, does not comply with the terms of interaction, then punishment will be inevitable. And if the violation is repeated, then the amount of the fine will increase. For such violations in most countries there is no statute of limitations, so the violator can be punished at any time and without warning.
It is also practiced punishment, in the form of blocking your site for a while until the violation is eliminated. If there is a repetition, then there is the possibility of losing the site for all time.
The process of unblocking a site can take a lot of time, which will be lost, so it’s better to do everything good right away.
Reasons why the site needs the terms of use of the site
Abuse Prevention
This moment is especially important for resources on which users interact with each other. Visitors will not want to use a site where they can insult or spam with impunity. Without a specified clause in the rules, site administrators do not have the authority to block visitors who behave inappropriately.
Protecting your own content
To emphasize the copyright of the company logo, website design, posted articles and images, it is necessary to indicate the illegality of their appropriation and use without the written permission of the owner of intellectual property.
Disclaimer
Information should be posted that the company is not legally responsible for all losses associated with the use of the site, and users assume the possible risks.
Information about the territory of possible litigation
The location of the court where legal dispute resolution will take place must be specified.
How to make a privacy policy
There are two main ways to create a privacy policy – manual and automatic. With manual, everything is clear, you can write a document yourself, taking into account the instructions and recommendations for compiling. For the automatic method, there are special sites on the Internet that can generate this document according to your requirements. Here are some platforms:
1. ProfiSet
If you or your audience resides in the EU, then you can generate a privacy policy on this site in accordance with the GDPR.
2. WordPress Plugin “Privacy Policy for Site”
If your site is made with WordPress, then generate a policy with a special plugin. This plugin informs site visitors about the use of cookies and adds consent to the processing of personal data under the contact forms.
3. Zyro.com
This is a free privacy policy generator that will help you, without any legal knowledge or experience, create a competent document to make your site safe, secure, and reliable for your customers.
Conclusion
The privacy policy and terms of use are important documents that should be present on every resource. They prescribe information that regulates the terms of the relationship between the audience and the web resource, the procedure for providing services, storing and transferring users’ personal information to third parties.
It is important to create clear and readable documents, with complete information that will help readers not to worry about their personal data online.
A privacy policy should include the types of data you collect from visitors, how you use that data, who you share it with, and how you protect it. It should also include information about cookies, analytics, and third-party services.
