Every website could use a basic privacy policy.
That’s because every website uses cookies in some way. For example, you should be taking advantage of Google Analytics, and it uses cookies. And if your site uses cookies, it’s helpful to disclose that as part of a privacy policy because cookies convey information about a visitor. Most of the time it’s non-personal information, but still, it’s good to let people know you’re collecting it and what you’re doing with it.
In some places, like Europe, you must disclose the use of cookies and even obtain consent for doing so. Find out if there are any such requirements where you live.
If you’re collecting any kind of personal information, like on a membership site or an ecommerce site, it’s vital that you have a privacy policy. Even if you’re not storing the information online, a privacy policy is something visitors look for, not to mention regulatory agencies.
What should be in your privacy policy and how should it be worded? There are a number of great sites to help you with that, including ones that will generate a privacy policy for you:
Privacy Policy Template – this Google doc can be used to create your own policy or simply as a guide to what you might want to include. It’s from a company called PrivacyChoice, which got bought out by AVG, so the URLs in the template no longer apply.
Trust Guard – very comprehensive questionnaire, although you do have to provide your name and email in order to receive your finished privacy policy.
Shopify Privacy Policy Generator – the online store provider has a free privacy policy generator that’s geared towards ecommerce
Virginia Tech – this school’s privacy policy generator asks a lot of detailed questions to generate a policy.
In all cases, you’ll want to read through the finished product to make sure it’s not saying something you don’t want it to say, but typically you’ll get a good basic privacy policy.
Do you need to check things over with a lawyer? That depends on your perceived levels of risk: how personal is the information, how are you storing it, how much money is involved, how is your business licensed/incorporated, etc?
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