Sunday, July 29, 2012

Website Privacy Policy: Do I Really Need One?


Privacy policy
It is a statement or a legal document that discloses some or all of the ways a party gathers, uses, discloses and manages a customer or client's data.

Not limited
 Personal information can be anything that can be used to identify an individual, not limited to but including; name, address, date of birth, marital status, contact information, ID issue and expiry date, financial records, credit information, medical history, where you travel, and intentions to acquire goods and services.

 In the case of a business it is often a statement that declares a party’s policy on how it collects, stores, and releases personal information it collects. It informs the client what specific information is collected, and whether it is kept confidential, shared with partners, or sold to other firms or enterprises.

Importance
Privacy policy is important to the modern state, because grounded in it is the individual's physical and moral autonomy. For this reason, it is worthy of constitutional protection.

A website privacy policy template tells your visitors and customers how you deal with their information. If you run an ecommerce website where goods or services are sold then it is a legal requirement under the ecommerce Regulations that you have a privacy policy on your site.

Benefit
The presence of the policy demonstrates to visitors that you have given consideration to their privacy. This in turn will enhance your reputation as a trusted site that thinks about the visitors that go to the site.

Australian law
The Privacy Act 1988 is an Australian law dealing with privacy. Section 14 of the Act stipulates a number of privacy rights known as the Information Privacy Principles. These principles apply to Australian Government and Australian Capital Territory agencies or private sector organisations contracted to these governments, as well as to organisations and small businesses who provide a health service.

Australians have a right to know why such information about them is being acquired, and who will see the information. Those in charge of storing the information have obligations to ensure such information is neither lost nor exploited. An Australian will also have the right to access the information unless this is specifically prohibited by law.

Information to include in a Cookie Specific Privacy Policy:
 What cookies are
 What info is collected
 What is done with the information
 How to reject / delete / accept cookies
 Explain there are no harmful technical consequences/risks

Why need to develop a privacy policy
1. Create a better electronic environment on the internet
2. Laws / legislation may pertain to  business

By letting people know what info is collected and what is done with that information, you can create a transparent environment in which people / consumers are more confident. You can eliminate stress and concerns about abuse of personal info.

Disclose owner’s intent
One of the main reasons a website needs a website privacy policy page is to disclose the owner's intent. People have a right to know what information is being traced behind the scenes, and what the owner plans to do with that private information. For example, does the site owner collect IP addresses to establish a database of user habits to sell to other organizations? Does the site owner request addresses with the express purpose of selling the list, or are the email address provided for a legitimate purpose, such as sending existing customers relevant information about product issues and upgrades?

Designing privacy policy
Tell visitors why tracking cookies are good, why the information is beneficial, that it is used to improve websites and their content. If you are collecting information, tell them what you do with that information. Give people an opportunity not to have their info collected, for example by blocking cookies. Explain how people can block cookies. Also explain that cookies are not harmful and cannot introduce viruses or extract personal contact information.



0 comments:

Post a Comment