Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link to privacypolicies.com, If you decide to use this product to create a privacy policy for your website, I’ll receive a small commish at no cost to you.
If you collect personal information from visitors like an email address, having a privacy policy on your website is now a legal requirement.
A privacy policy explains what kind of personal information you’ll collect such as names, email address bank information and credit card details. It also informs visitors how you intend to use their data.
The purpose of this legal disclosure is to lay out the reason why you’re collecting personal information, the type of information to be collected, for data storage, third-party affiliations, etc.
Believe it or not but there are some folks out there who don’t think a privacy policy is necessary. But I’m here to tell you, if you want to avoid the website police and fines, get a privacy policy to protect your visitors and yourself.
Even if you don’t collect any personal information from your website visitors, it’s still a good idea to have a privacy policy on your website.
Here are four reasons why you need a privacy policy.
It’s The Law
That’s right, it’s the law folks. The data protection law deals with the security of your visitor’s personal data. Although there is no formal legislation at the federal level, it does insure the privacy and protection of your visitor’s data through the U.S. Privacy Act, the Safe Harbor Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
There’s also the EU General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR. The GDPR was passed on April 2016 to protect the data and privacy of all EU citizens. A website owner who is not compliant can now face hefty fines.
For Transparency
When you’re transparent with your visitors, it builds trust. And that is very important if they want to do business with you in the future.
When you’re up front with your visitors about the kind of personal data you’ll collect and how you intend to use it, they’ll feel safer leaving their email address and other information on your website.
To Protect Your Visitors
With all the hacking going on, you have to protect your visitors – and yourself. The last thing you want to deal with is the headache of having your website hacked. Not to mention lose credibility.
Third-Party Service Providers May Require It
Many of the third-party services or plugins you use may require a privacy policy that includes a section with information about the use of their services.
So your privacy policy should include a list of third-party services and apps you use and what it’s intended for.
And now let me tell you how to get one for your website.
Where To Get A Privacy Policy
When I created the privacy policy for this website, it set me back a couple hundred dollars. A cringe-worthy price yes, but one of those things I had to invest in for my website.
When I was browsing through products on Share-A-Sale, I came across privacypolicies.com*. I saw how easy it is to use and now, it’s what I recommend to clients.
Privacy Policies let’s you create a custom-made, easy to read legal documents for your website, eCommerce, mobile app or if you need a GDPR policy.
And you can also create a free terms and conditions document.
Now let’s talk price.
Believe it or not but you can create a privacy policy for free. This is includes a cookie consent for non-commercial projects and a clause for analytics tools and ads.
You can also upgrade to get more features like clauses for Analytics tools ($14 per website), for ads ($7 per website) and a GDPR clause ($24 per website) – all for a one-time payment.
Wrapping It Up
Remember, this document is not a one-size fits all kind of document. You need to tailor it to the needs of your business. If you need a privacy policy for your website, go on to privacypolicies.com* and CYA (cover your a**).
Hi Cori,
Your blog’s privacy policy is vital because it not only protects your visitors but also protects you from lawsuits. More importantly, your blog’s privacy policy is designed to establish transparency between you and your blog community or readership. For example, visitors to your site leave crucial data on your blog. Therefore, your privacy policy lets them know what data you are collecting from them when they land on your blog and how you use their information.
Business-wise, it helps you build trust as well.
It’s true, I can’t believe there’s still people who don’t have privacy policies.