Do I Need A Privacy Policy On My Website?

According to the Better Business Bureau, there is no law requiring a website to have a privacy policy. However, consumers are becoming very savvy and want to know what information corporations are gathering about them online and how it is being used.

Therefore, we highly recommend your website, whether it is an ecommerce site or not, have a privacy policy. Below are key topics your privacy policy should address.

1. Explain what type of information are you collecting. For example, are you collecting email addresses from sign-up forms, physical addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, bank information, IP addresses or browser information?

2. Share how this information is used. Do you sell their names and email addresses or do you only use this information for internal marketing purposes? If you use a third-party merchant account or a third-party ad service, find out from these companies what information they are collecting and how they are using it. Be sure to include that in the privacy statement.

3. Do you use cookies on your site? Do you use Google Analytics? If so, share that in your privacy statement.

4. If you are collecting sensitive information about customers, like credit card or bank account information, ensure you share how your site is secured. Also, include how you prevent hackers from getting sensitive customer data.

5. Provide customers and prospects with an email and/or phone number they can call if they have questions about your privacy policy.

Privacy policies are important and help establish credibility with customers and prospects. Make your policy statement easy for web visitors to understand and avoid technical legal jargon when possible.

The short list of what to include in your privacy policy is only meant to be a guide. We highly recommend you seek legal advice when writing your privacy policy.

Jennifer Manocchio

President

After starting her career with Edelman in Chicago, Jennifer joined Sweeney and quickly established herself as an exceptional industry innovator. In 2004, she opened Sweeney’s first full-service office outside of Cleveland and quickly rose through the ranks to become agency president. Jen leads by example and without fear. She has been critical to agency growth throughout the past decade and continues to lead the agency into the future.