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A privacy policy is a legal statement explaining how a company collects, handles, processes, and respects its customers' personal data on a website or app. Most privacy policies use clear and explicit language to ensure that their customers or website visitors understand what personal data the company collects and how the company will use that information.
Privacy policies are necessary for any digital medium that collects user data, such as websites, e-commerce sites, blogs, web applications, mobile applications, and desktop applications.
You might also know privacy policies by other names, such as:
The information your company collects through digital customer visits usually depends on the purpose of your website or app and your industry. Common examples of personal information collected digitally include:
Other information might relate specifically to customer actions within the site. For example, if your website allows users to share pictures, comment on posts, or like other user's information, you might collect all that data, as well.
Privacy policies are not just a good way to build trust with and offer transparency to your customers — they're also legally necessary and required by most third-party applications.
Digital privacy laws and regulations exist all over the world, so if your website draws visitors from outside of your state or country, you need to abide by their local privacy laws in addition to your own. It's absolutely vital that you research the legal obligations relevant to your customer base to ensure you're abiding by the necessary laws.
There is no single federal privacy law in the U.S. Instead, individual states set digital privacy laws, and a few federal regulations create a patchwork of legal protections for consumers. If your customers come from all over the U.S., these federal regulations can help you structure your privacy policy:
Many states also have specific privacy laws. California's law, called the California Online Privacy Protection Act, is the most comprehensive and strict nationwide, so most companies use it for guidance when structuring their privacy policies.
If you have customers or website visitors from all over the world, you should refer to international privacy laws to ensure you're meeting all the necessary legal requirements.
Many third-party services require privacy policies. For example, if your blog hosts ads from Google Ads, you must abide by Google's privacy policy and post the language of its policy on your website. This is true of most major third-party services, like Amazon, Facebook, and Apple.
Providing a straightforward privacy policy also helps to build trust with your customers. They'll see that you respect their data and personal information and will appreciate your willingness to abide by regulations and your transparency in making it easy to see what data you collect and what you do with it.
Even if your website or app doesn't collect any personal information, you might consider posting a privacy policy anyway. Many customers expect to see a privacy policy when they visit a website or app, so the lack of one might be seen by some customers as a sign that you are trying to hide something. Instead, post a notice stating you don't collect any personal information.
Privacy policies vary greatly depending on your business, your industry, and your customers' geographical location. Generally, your privacy policy should provide information regarding notice, choice, access, and security. Most privacy policies contain the following elements at a minimum:
Depending on the specifics of your company, you might also consider including these elements in your privacy policy:
These elements generally abide by U.S. regulations. If you have customers in other parts of the world, such as the EU, make sure you assess privacy laws in the region when writing your privacy policy.
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You have several options when creating your privacy policy. First, you can write your own by reviewing legislation, reading the policies of other companies in your industry, and creating your document. However, writing your own can be time-consuming, and if you don't have adequate information, you might accidentally miss a critical, legally necessary element of your policy.
The simplest and most effective way to create a privacy policy is to seek guidance from a contract lawyer. Online resources and templates may also be helpful, but a contract lawyer has the necessary skills and knowledge to help you structure an appropriate and comprehensive privacy policy that will meet the needs of your company and industry while satisfying legal and third-party services obligations.
You want to ensure that your customers know where to find your privacy policy and either agree to the terms or opt out if they want. The easiest way to do this is to create an immediate pop-up when your customer enters your website or before they submit personal data, like billing information for a purchase. Ask them to agree to the terms before proceeding.
Most companies provide a short snippet of their privacy policy with a link to the full text, which customers can also access on your website if they'd like to read the entire document.
An effective privacy policy is not just a great way to build customer trust. It's a legal necessity. If you're not sure how to get started, use the expertise of a contract attorney to help you create a customized privacy policy perfect for your business.
ContractsCounsel is not a law firm, and this post should not be considered and does not contain legal advice. To ensure the information and advice in this post are correct, sufficient, and appropriate for your situation, please consult a licensed attorney. Also, using or accessing ContractsCounsel's site does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and ContractsCounsel.
Tim advises small businesses, entrepreneurs, and start-ups on a wide range of legal matters. He has experience with company formation and restructuring, capital and equity planning, tax planning and tax controversy, contract drafting, and employment law issues. His clients range from side gig sole proprietors to companies recognized by Inc. magazine.
Scott graduated from Cardozo Law School and also has an English degree from Penn. His practice focuses on business law and contracts, with an emphasis on commercial transactions and negotiations, document drafting and review, employment, business formation, e-commerce, technology, healthcare, privacy, data security and compliance. While he's worked with large, established companies, he particularly enjoys collaborating with startups. Prior to starting his own practice in 2011, Scott worked in-house for over 5 years with businesses large and small. He also handles real estate leases, website and app Terms of Service and privacy policies, and pre- and post-nup agreements.
With 20 years of transactional law experience, I have represented corporate giants like AT&T and T-Mobile, as well as mid-size and small businesses across a wide spectrum of legal needs, including business purchase agreements, entity formation, employment matters, commercial and residential real estate transactions, partnership agreements, online business terms and policy drafting, and business and corporate compliance. Recognizing the complexities of the legal landscape, I am dedicated to providing accessible and transparent legal services by offering a flat fee structure, making high-quality legal representation available to all. My extensive knowledge and commitment to client success establishes me as a trusted advisor for businesses of all sizes.
28+ years experience. Licensed in Colorado and New York. Areas of expertise: estate planning, wills and trusts; trademark law; patent law; contracts and licensing; small business organization and counseling.
Experienced real estate, business, and tax practitioner, representing start up and established businesses with formation, contracts, and operational issues.
Meagan Kirchner has nearly a decade of experience in Immigration law. She has significant experience working on H-2B immigration matters. Her practice also focuses on business immigration, particularly representing corporate clients pursuing H, E3, TN, O, and L nonimmigrant classifications, as well as lawful permanent residence (EB-1A, NIW, EB-1C). Meagan has represented clients in a variety of industries including agriculture, hospitality, healthcare, IT, engineering, and finance. Meagan has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from George Mason University and a Juris Doctor degree from the George Mason University School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Virginia and is also a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).
In 1991, Barbara Markessinis graduated cum laude from Albany Law School in Albany, New York. Shortly thereafter, Barbara was admitted to practice in New York State and in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. In 1997, Barbara was admitted to practice in Massachusetts and in April of 2009 she was admitted to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. After graduating from law school, Barbara worked in private practice in the Albany, New York area and for Sneeringer, Monahan, Provost & Redgrave Title Agency, Inc. before joining the New York State Division for Youth and the New York State Attorney General's Real Property Bureau as a Senior Attorney. During her tenure with the Division for Youth, Attorney Markessinis found herself in Manhattan Family Court in front of Judge Judy! A career highlight for sure! After admission to the Massachusetts Bar, Barbara returned to private practice in the Berkshires and eventually started her own firm in June of 2006. Attorney Markessinis offers legal services in elder law, estate planning and administration/probate, family law, limited assistance representation (LAR), real estate and landlord tenant disputes. In 2016, after a family member found themselves in need of long term care, Attorney Markessinis’ launched her elder law practice. Through this experience, Attorney Markessinis discovered that the process of selecting a long term care facility and/or caregiver, applying for MassHealth and preserving an applicant’s assets are serious issues faced by many people every day. This area of the law is Barbara’s passion and she offers her legal services to families who find themselves in need of an elder law attorney. Attorney Markessinis is part of the Volunteer Legal Clinic in the Berkshire Probate & Family Court and has provided limited free legal services to patients and families at Moments House cancer support center in Pittsfield. She currently serves as a Hearing Committee Member for the MA Board of Bar Overseers and is a member of the Berkshire County and Massachusetts Bar Associations, Berkshire County Estate Planning Council (BCEPC). Attorney Markessinis is also the host of WUPE Talks Law. She also serves on the Town of Hancock Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board.
I am the owner of an online business and have recently implemented a privacy policy for our customers. I want to ensure that our privacy policy is in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. I am looking for an understanding of what those laws and regulations are, so that I can make sure we are following them correctly.
There are myriad laws that govern privacy. In the U.S. there are the U.S. Privacy Act, HIPPA for health info, GLBA for financial, COPPA protecting children, and now more States are adding privacy laws. In 2023 alone, new consumer privacy laws will be effective in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia. Doing business internationally? The GDPR in the EU is recognized as something of a gold standard for individual privacy. The GDPR created ongoing obligations for maintains and updating privacy implementation. Companies located anywhere, not just the EU, must appoint a Data Protection Officer (“DPO”) if they have to carry out large scale, regular and systematic monitoring of people, for example online behavior tracking or large scale processing of sensitive (special category) data or data relating to crimes and criminal convictions.
