How to write a good company privacy policy


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A good company privacy policy is an essential in today's business environments. With so much controversy over the past several years relating to the Internet, marketing and privacy, businesses are smart, for both themselves and the consumer, to put together a good privacy policy.


According to etrust.org, a privacy policy "is one of the most important documents on any website. It details your company's views and procedures on the information collected from visitors".

Need to write a privacy policy? Make sure you cover all your bases. There are several important elements to include in a company privacy policy.

Create a readable document

Unfortunately, one mistake far too many companies make is to create a policy that is difficult for consumers to follow and even understand. While the document is a legal one and some legal language needs to be included, this does not mean the policy should be so full of legalese that it will frustrate the consumer to the point of them ignoring the policy; it is in everyone's best interest for the policy to be understood. Write the policy with the consumer in mind to ensure he or she understands what is happening with personal information; this is to everyone's advantage.

Include an introduction

A good introduction is important. In this section a company can share information with consumers about their business and offer details that relate specifically to the organization.

Collected information

One of the primary components of a good privacy policy is to explicitly explain to consumers what information about them is being collected and exactly how the data aggregated will be used and who it will be shared with.

People have a right to know what happens to their personal information and explaining this in detailed layman's terms allows them to understand what they are agreeing to when they join a website, make a purchase or otherwise share personal details about themselves.

Explain how data is collected

This area of the privacy policy should be specific and describe what methods are being used to accumulate consumer data. Any manual or technical procedures used should be explained in this segment of the privacy policy.

Where information is stored

Consumer privacy is an important consideration and in today's high tech environments, it is essential to put safeguards into place to protect data from breach, theft or otherwise risks.

This is beneficial for many reasons. First it protects the company and it can show how it exercises due care in protecting consumer data and, secondly, it provides the consumer with a level of confidence to build trust. Any strong business relationship needs to have a foundation of trust and being open with how data is stored and outlining what steps are being taken to preserve data integrity is vital.

The privacy policy should be clear on how information is stored and protected. All one needs to do is look at the number of massive data breaches that have occurred in the past two years alone, consumers need reassurance.

Contact information

Any legitimate business should provide detailed contact information to allow consumers a means to contact an organizational representative with any concerns or questions they may have. An email address is helpful, but a physical address and phone number should be provided as well. A privacy policy is a necessary legal document. With many laws across the globe addressing privacy issues in today's digital environment, a privacy policy is advantageous to both the organization and the consumer.

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