A privacy policy, also known as an information management policy, is an agreement between the operator of a website and a user of the website that determines how the operator intends to use, collect, store, share and protect the data that the website uses. user shares through interactions with the website. Even a little over a decade ago, some commercial websites didn’t have privacy policies, but now virtually every website has one. These policies, which should be separate from the website’s terms of use agreement, are necessary for a number of different reasons.
Policy Can Foster Transparency and Trust Between Operators and Users
In relation to privacy policies, website users generally want to know two things: what information the website collects and how that information is used. Best business practices dictate that website operators inform users of the answers to those two questions and let them know how to control that use.
Some websites inform users that they simply collect information for their own use, and other websites disclose that they provide that information to third parties under certain circumstances. eBay’s privacy policy, for example, tells users that it will not “disclose your personal information to third parties for their marketing and advertising purposes” without the user’s explicit consent. The policy says that eBay may share personal information with third parties when necessary to prevent fraud or to use the main features of the eBay website. The expanded version of eBay’s easy-to-read policy could be improved by specifically informing users at which points of service information is collected and how it is shared at each point.
A website must also update users whenever the privacy policy changes. You must inform users when the new policy will take effect and may allow them to accept the changes, either explicitly through a dialog box or implicitly through their continued use of the website.
The policy can help protect you from legal liability
While there is no general federal law that outlines privacy policy requirements for websites that collect information from adults, there are several state laws and federal laws specific to minors. For example, the California Online Privacy Protection Act of 2003 (OPPA) requires website privacy policies to contain certain information, including: “personally identifiable information collected, the categories of parties with may share this personally identifiable information and the process for notifying users of material changes to the applicable privacy policy.” The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires operators to maintain a privacy policy if the website is directed to children under the age of 13 or collects information from children under the age of 13. years knowingly.