Tips For Writing A Privacy Policy

We have probably all seen them on various websites, but do you know the purpose of Writing  A Privacy Policy for your site? There are more reasons than simply making visitors feel more comfortable.

  

 

 

Why Post A Privacy Policy?

According to Wikipedia, a privacy policy is “a legal document dealing with the information related to customers’ and merchants’ private profiles.”

As mentioned above, visitors who see a privacy policy listed on your website are more apt to feel secure about giving you their information; hence, more likely to make a purchase.

It does offer some protection to the consumer in that a company that posts such a policy can hardly claim ignorance if personal information is sold to a third party.

But more than these reasons for Writing A Privacy Policy, certain advertising partners, such as Google Adsense, require it. From Google’s site, the terms of service specifically state “AdSense publishers must have and abide by a privacy policy that discloses that third parties may be placing and reading cookies on your users’ browsers, or using web beacons to collect information as a result of ad serving on your website.”

The Basics Of Writing A Privacy Policy

There are several tips to keep in mind when creating your website policy. The following list covers the most basic aspects of what to include and how to do it:

• State what personal information you are collecting, why you are asking for it, and how it will be used.

• Who will have access and for how long?

• Assurance that the website, the server, and your web hosting service is secure.

• Specifically state if the information will ever be disclosed to any other parties, who they are, and how these entities will keep the information secure.

• Make it transparent if your site is set up to place cookies or web bugs on the user’s computer.

• Write in plain English that is easy to understand. You are protecting your visitor’s rights, and if they can’t understand the legal jargon, it is meaningless.

• If your policy ends up being very lengthy, consider adding a link to a downloadable .pdf file.

• Give visitors the ability to opt out if they do not agree with the terms of the privacy policy.

Tools For Creating A Privacy Policy

If you are Writing A Privacy Policy for the first time, you might want to take a look at competing sites and use the basic gist of their verbiage.

The Platform for Privacy Preferences Project and its P3P guidelines are available online. The site also includes a standard format any webmaster can use with appropriate additions for their particular application.

The Direct Marketing Association also provides a free Privacy Policy Generator. You merely need to input some data and it returns a page written in HTML that can easily be customised and added to your website. In the United States, the Better Business Bureau offers a similar tool.

Remember that a privacy policy not only makes your customers feel more secure, it is required for participation in certain affiliate programs such as Google Adsense. With free tools and help available online, there is no reason you cannot create your own privacy policy and avoid problems regarding concerns over personal data.

Quoted from : http://www.seanseo.com