Do you have a website? Then you probably need a privacy policy. Did you know It is required by law? In this post I will shortly explain what privacy and a privacy policy is, why you need a privacy policy, what a privacy policy should contain, how to create a privacy policy for a website and how you can get a free privacy policy today.
Before you read the rest of my article I want to inform you according to best practices with information that may be important to you:
Affiliate disclaimer: This post contain affiliate links which means I will get a commission at no extra cost for you if you should click through and make a purchase.
Third party disclaimer: We are not legally responsible for what happens when you click on third party links because have no control over third parties websites, content, functionality or security and can not be held responsible for any technical or other damage to your device such as computer, mobile or tablet used when clicking on a link to connect to other platforms, download material, install, modify or distribute any material, software or other.
Earnings and result disclaimer: Programs or products mentioned in this post that involve earning money will not work for everyone and there is no guarantee for success because there are to many factors that influence the results such as skills, circumstances and knowledge that we have no control over. Our Intention is to provide you with good potential opportunities and tools that can be helpful to your success.
Opinion disclaimer:
All views and opinions expressed in posts on are my own and not PrivacyPolicies views or opinions. Projections in this post are not endorsements.
I am writing this post because I am working regularly on updating my own website privacy policy according to online requirements. It is a tedious and continuous task and as your website grows your privacy policy needs an upgrade as well.
What is online Privacy?
(Photo: Unsplash)
To make a privacy policy you first need to know what online privacy is.
Online privacy is shortly told the freedom from disclosure of ones personal data, information and communication when being online according to Thesaurus.
What is an online Privacy Policy?
An online privacy policy is according to Wikipedia a statement or a legal document that discloses how a party gathers, uses, discloses and manages a client or customers data.
When working online It is important to protect data about your customers and to manage the data according to federal and global laws. So to do that any website owner need to learn how to practice these requirements and laws as good as they can.
Privacy categories online
Three categories is especially important:
Personal data
Personal communication
Bodily Privacy
Who needs a Privacy Policy on their website?
Everyone with a website that collects data. I guess you have or planning to have a contact form, plugins, Google Analytics, social media, photos, videos and other online services connected to your site? Most affiliate marketers, internet marketers, online marketers, small and big online businesses, E commerce websites, app sites etc just to mention some need a privacy policy.
Do you have a privacy policy?
Do you need a website Privacy Policy?
You may wonder if you need one. Yes If you have a website that collects data from your customers you need a privacy policy.
Why do you need a Privacy Policy for your website?
(Photo: Unsplash)
The main reason for your online business to have a privacy policy is to take good care of your visitors, clients or customers. This also involves protecting their data.
When a visitor come to your site, they leave digital tracks. If they sign up to a form on your site and leave their email – they have the right to know why you collect the email, how you manage the data, how you secure their email. And you need to inform your customers about this with a privacy policy.
A privacy policy is required by law for anyone with a website, app, e-commerce, SAAS app. If you do not have a privacy policy you should get one now.
Working online means you work across global boundaries and legislation so you need a global privacy policy in addition to a federal one. A global privacy includes GDPR ( General data protection regulation), COPPA (children s online privacy protection Act), EU`s cookie directive, Pipeda (Personal information and electronic documents act), HIPAA ( Health insurance portability and accountability act of 1996).
Customers are generally interested to know how their personal information is being used. Why should you give your Email address, name, address, phone number etc.? A privacy policy explain to the customer why you need this information, how you plan to use it and how you protect this information. In addition, many customers want to check if the information is correct and you need to tell them how they can see the data you have collected about them and how they can correct this. They also want to know if you give or sell their data to third parties. It is your job to give this information to them.
When I started my website at Wealthy Affiliate we were taught to write a typical privacy policy for our website. You can take a look at my privacy policy here but you can not copy and paste it. I have customized it to my website the best way I have knowledge of. I have asked myself many times. How do I know if my privacy policy is good enough? Is there anything missing that I should add to it? Most of us are not experts in this field so we need to learn how to do it correctly.
I guess I am not the only one who struggle to keep my website correctly in order in all possible ways as my website grows. Maybe you do too? Maybe you have a lot of questions about creating a privacy policy for your website too? I would appreciate if you leave your questions in the comments below. It can help others who is reading this article and maybe wonder about the same things you do.
My goal with this article is to inform and help you who wonder about the same by sharing my privacy policy process including some questions I had and have here. I am not a Lawyer so my perspective on this is from a pure website owner and affiliate marketer perspective.
Should I hire a Lawyer to write my online Privacy Policy?
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You may wonder if it is necessary to hire a lawyer to do this. Hiring a lawyer cost money. We all know that. And you do not want to use a lawyer unless you really have to. Right?
You do not need a lawyer to write your privacy policy, but it can be wise to do so. A lawyer can help you customize the privacy policies for your specific website to protect you and your customers interests. The free privacy policies are not customized to your specific website so it is not sure that it will cover everything regarding your website. Although a typical free privacy policy is a good start, you may consider customizing your privacy policy and get a lawyer to take a look at it. It can eventually cost you more not to use a lawyer.
I must admit I have not used a lawyer to make my privacy policy, but I am seriously considering it, because I do want to reassure myself and my customers that all is taken good care of when it comes to protecting my visitors and customers data online. I am constantly updating my privacy policy with new information so my visitors and customers are informed.
However, I am doing whatever I can to make sure that no one can access data on my site. I have my website hosted on the most secure servers online with Wealthy Affiliate Siterubix hosting. My website have an SSL certificate. I have 24/7 support from my host if there should be any technical issues at all and I have full redundancy which means if my website should go down a special twin site will go up. I have trusted affiliate partners who use secure systems too.
But I also see that there is no way I can know it all or think of every little thing. Maybe there are important things I have missed? I do feel scared by this thought I must admit. And I know many other website owners who feel exactly the same way. Most website owners want to take good care of their customers privacy.
What is online Privacy Violation?
Privacy violation is using private information in a way that is not legal. Example: If you give your customers data to a third party without consent.
Internet privacy involves many elements to protect sensitive and private data, communications, photos, name likeness, disclosure of private facts just to mention some elements.
What happens if I do not have a Privacy policy?
If you create a website that collects data and do not have a privacy policy you are probably violating International and federal laws. In the worst case this can be a very costly affair.
It is actually kind of scary to think about. Most affiliate marketers are not security specialists or lawyers. Working in a global arena makes it harder to keep track of it all. And it cost extra to make a customized privacy policy.
What kind of data do your website collect and why?
You need to take a closer look at what kind of data you collect with your website and ask yourself why do you collect this data?
Most affiliate marketers like myself collects data for analytical purposes to find out more about who our customers are and what they buy. We are also interested in the buying patterns. From where do our traffic come? From Ads or from SEO? What social Media platforms generate most traffic to our site? What countries and places do I get website traffic from? Which age groups like to visit my website? What interests do they have? Which articles do they love to read?
We do this to be able to target our audience better with products and content they want to see. We use different online services like Google Analytics and other analytical tools on Social media platforms. Many affiliate marketers also offer gifts and newsletters that collects your email address so they know where to send the gifts and newsletter. Some e-commerce websites have payment systems that collect names, address, phone numbers, card details etc to be able to accept a payment or paybacks. Affiliate merchants collects data about their affiliates in order to pay them a commission. So what data you collect depends on what kind of website you have.
What kind of data should I protect?
Data that is especially important to protect is:
Your customers, visitors or clients personal information: Anything that can be used to identify a person.
Name, address, email address, date of birth, ID issue, expiry date, marital status, financial records, credit information, medical history, travel destinations, intentions to acquire goods and services
Sensitive data:
Sensitive data can be information about, health, political views, religion, ethnic origin, genetic data, bio metric data, memberships and sexual preferences.
Most of us wants to protect our visitors data to the best of our knowledge so it will not be misused. But there are always some crooks out there that want to use your data for suspicious endeavors, personal gain and could not care less about your data. Who will use your data without permission or consent. or decieving you to get personal data.
What should a website Privacy Policy contain?
Your website privacy policy should contain:
How you gather data – your methods.
Why you gather data – your purpose – How you use data – your why.
Data consent – How people consent – ex. cookies, double optin etc.
Information security – How you secure data.
Data protection Directive – How you protect data.
How your customers can access their data and/or correct it.
How you disclose, manage and release data.
Accountability
How it applies to geographic boundaries and law
How it applies to global laws
FTC – Fair Information Practice
EU`s Data Protection Directive
GDPR – General data protection regulation
Sounds very simple, but trust me it is not as simple as it looks. It is a lot to learn and remember. This is a whole science in itself. So the best thing you can do straight away if you do not have a privacy policy is to get one right now.
How to create a Free Privacy Policy for your website
I had never created a privacy policy before. I knew very little about it. I had heard the term but was not familiar with what it really involved and what it was for. And I had no I idea how to make one. So what to do? I did like most people do. I started searching for information and answers about it online. This is how I became an affiliate of PrivacyPolicies. Have you created a privacy policy? Do you know how to make one?
Create a privacy policy for free
In this post I will concentrate on showing you how you can easily create a free privacy policy for your website with PrivacyPolicies generator.
There are many other types of privacy policies that might be relevant for you as well as: MobileApp privacy, E commerce Privacy Policy, GDPR, SAAS app privacy policy, Custom privacy Policy, caIOPPA privacy policy. CCPA. I am not going to go In depth on these policies in this article, but you can find out more here.
So let us focus on getting you started and create a free typical Privacy Policy.
1. Download a free template here
or
2. Use a free Privacy policy generator
You can also customize it to your website if you want:
3. Not free: Customized Privacy Policy Generator
4. Not free: Get a Lawyer to do it for you.
Free Website Privacy Policy Template
A free website privacy policy template will help you get a quick and fast privacy policy that is most typical for a website. If you have a new website I would recommend using this from the start. You can get one here now. And you can customize this to your web page.
Free Website Privacy Policy Generator
PrivacyPolicies offer a free generated privacy policy – Try it now!
Where should I put my Privacy Policy on my website?
The general rule is that your privacy policy should be visible for anyone who visit your website. You can have your own privacy policy page, in the menu, put it in the footer, in a cookie notice, in contact forms etc. The more visible the better. Your visitors will easily get to the information.
Writing your own website Privacy Policy?
Sure you can write your own, but I would recommend using a service like PrivacyPolicies, because then you are sure your policy include all the necessary and required information. By downloading the free template you can customize it as you like. It is recommended that you get a lawyer or a specialist in online security to take a look at it so you know if your customer and your website interest are being properly taken care of.
Can others copy my website Privacy Policy?
No, not without permission from you. Your privacy policy is a copyright protected document. You can not copy and paste someone else s privacy policy online.
How often should I update my website Privacy Policy?
Creating a new website it is important to bear in mind to have a privacy policy page. A good rule is every time you add something to your new website that collect information, you update your policy. Every time laws and international rules are changing and when Industry policies change. You should keep your website updated as good as you can. It can be wise to do this regularly.
Starting out my own website all of this were new to me and I try to update my website as often as I can according to what is required. I am planning to make a more customized private policy. With the PrivacyPolicies generator you can get a free and customized premium private policy. It is an excellent generator for making a privacy policy for your website.
Final thoughts – Yes – You need a Privacy Policy!
To sum it all up. You should have a privacy policy if you have a website that collects data from your visitors in any way. Whether it is data for analytical purposes or other reasons to collect data. It is not only required by law but It builds trust with your visitor when they know why you collect their data, how you use it and how they can manage their own data online. If you do not have a privacy policy on your website I will urge you to get one now. I would also urge you to make it a part of your daily practice for success to constantly update your privacy policy when needed.
Hope this short post about online privacy policy is helpful to you. If you want to find out more about How you can customize or update your website privacy policies I urge you to find out more here.
Any Questions?
Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions related to this matter and I will answer you to the best of my knowledge.
Books about Online Privacy
If you want to read some more about this topic I will suggest these 6 books.
* Daily Practice for Success is an Amazon Affiliate and by clicking through on one of these links I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you should you make a purchase. When you click on these links data is collected by Amazon to track clicks, your behavior on amazon and for analytical and affiliate payment purposes. Your click will also be registered in Google Analytics as an interaction with my website and for purposes described in our privacy policy.
Author: Bowker: Data Privacy Law – a practical guide to the GDPR
Author Rohit Srivastwa My data, My privacy, My choice
Author Ronald Leenes Data protection and Privacy
Author Suzanne Dibble :GDPR for dummies
Author: Springer: The EU general data protection regulation (GDPR): a practical guide
Author: Eugen Grinschuk: EU GDPR compliance compact . GDPR checklist and GDPRintroduction for website and bloggers: GDPR handbook with GDPR templates. Data protection regulation 2018 for beginners. GDPR concisely explained.
Get My #1 recommendation – PrivacyPolicies generator
ONE thing before you go. I would be very grateful if you could help me to share this post to someone who might need to hear this or on your social media. You never know. You may be the reason someone takes better care of their customers data.
* Opinion Disclaimer: All views and opinions that may be expressed in this post are my own and not any view or opinion of privacypolicies.*
Hi there, thanks for another beautiful article. I love to always read your articles. I don’t have a website but I know of few People whom this post would be of great help to and I wouldn’t hesitate to share this with them all. I would love to read more from you. Thanks
Hi Lesley! Thank you for sharing my article. Happy to hear you love to read my articles. You can click on the follow button below or sign up to our newsletter to get more to read directly in your inbox.
Ah, just the information I needed. I was cautious about this page on my site and aware that a privacy policy is a legal requirement and your explanations of why make sense. It’s time consuming getting through all this kind of pages so I was pleased to see you suggested a privacy policy generator for free. I’ll probably go ahead and use this for my site, thanks again for the great post.
Hi Emma! A free Privacy Policy is a good start if you have a new website. You should consider customize it to your customers interests and website. The free policy is just the minimum requirement.
A very important topic for owners of all websites and domains. How you are handling your visitor’s behavior on the Internet is not something you want to overlook. But it is not an easy task. You have a good description of the contents of a Privacy Policy and how to make one. The proposal to use the Privacy Policy service from the Privacy Policies website is excellent. By using you should be well covered without using too much of your own time trying to figure it all out by yourself. It seems to be a good way to keep updated with all the regulations that are in effect when you have one or more websites..
Does PrivacyPolicies provide you with updates to changes in the different rules and regulations, or do you have to find out yourself when it is time to update your websites?
Yes, as far as I know and have read on their website they do update the privacy policy with new and relevant rules and regulations. However I urge you to check if you have all you need. Maybe get a lawyer to see if you have covered it all. The free privacy policy is covering a Typical website, but is not customized to your website. You can order a customized one , but it costs money. It is your responsability to be up to date. I am updating my sitethese days according to the latest changes I have done on my site.
Thank you for the thorough review of a privacy policy and why we need and want a privacy policy for the website. I never put much thought into the privacy policy and the inner workings of having a privacy policy in place. I’ve never paid close attention to privacy policies when I’m ordering stuff online. Probably naive of me.
Hi Jenn! For some customers it makes a difference. Others could not care less. But having a website you need to take care of your customers privacy and interests.So if you have a website or a blog I would urge you to get one.
Thank you so much for sharing with us an informative article. You have presented this topic so well in your article. I have learned a lot by reading your article and gained a lot of knowledge about privacy policy. Of the points mentioned in your article, I like Wealthy Affiliate. I didn’t know how to create a privacy policy but when I joined the Wealthy Affiliate Platform I was able to create a privacy policy for my website myself with a variety of training from there. However this Privacy Policy is not customized only a typical one. I have enjoyed your article how to create a privacy policy. PrivacyPolicies sounds like a great platform to generate customized privacy policies and download free templates to customize .Details are given so I would like to share about the privacy policies platform in my Facebook group if you allow me.
Thank you Asraful! Glad you learned something new. PrivacyPolicies is great if you want a fast and easy privacy policies. They offer a typical privacy policy for free just like WA. But your privacy policy should be customized to your website, niche and users as you develop your website further. You might also want to read my post about disclaimers you need on your website too: https://dailypracticeforsuccess.com/how-to-create-an-affiliate-disclaimer-on-your-website/
Great article about privacy policies. I currently have a basic one and didn’t realize that we should be updating it as we go. Thanks to your article, I now realize I have some work to do on my privacy policy as well as my disclaimers.
Curious though, why with such an extensive disclaimer page do you have it all copied to your privacy policy page as well?
Hi Anette! Thank you for leaving your insights! Your question is very good. I do this because according to best practices the disclaimers should be visible and not hidden. After reading the guidelines I decided I wanted to add it to my Privacy policies as well so it is visible. You might also want to read my post about disclaimers. I hope this answered your question.
Thanks for the really informative article. I’m looking into how I can create lists for my own website and this information has come in really handy. I’m going to favourite your website/page and refer back to it to help me with managing my own privacy policies in the future.
You mention about adding to your privacy policy every time you add something new that collects data – can you give some examples of other data collection tools that may be useful – I can only think of email lists, but would be interested to know of other methods? Thank you!
Hi Will. I appreciate your comment. and your question. I update regularly my privacy policy with new interactions to my website that is of interest for the visitor to know about.
Especially those who collect data from your visitors. Yes you probably need to mention Google Analytics if you use that. If you are selling products via Amazon Associates you would mention this and all third parties and analytics tools that interact with your site. You might want to read my latest post about disclaimers.. Disclaimers are very important.
Email contact forms collects data and you need to mention what you collect and why you collect it. I hope I gave you a helpful answer to your question Will. If you have any other questions do not hesitate to ask. I will try and answer to the best of my knowledge on the matter.
Hi there, I just got off of reading your amazing post on “How To Create A Privacy Policy.
This is such a very invaluable content. I think it is a prescription for any affiliate marketer or website owner. I never know or consider the importance of all the different types of disclaimer policy out there until I read your article.
It’s so informative, and very professionally presented, and so convincing for any business. Most affiliate marketers, and web owners, who gets outside links, everywhere. With this information, I’m going to do something about the site, and find ways to update things.
Thanks so much for sharing this, so helpful!
Favorme.
Hi Favorme! Thank you for sharing your opinion. I am glad you found my post helpful. Updating you website will help securing your customers and visitors privacy online.
Thank you for sharing this post it is very informative and factual. Yes as online business practitioners we have to ensure we are abiding by the legislations and relations across global boundaries. The customer is to be protected and must know how data generated will be used. Website owners are called upon to exercise high ethical principles and ensure they abide by the covenant in their policy. The customer’s privacy most be first and foremost.
Hi! Thank you for adding your thoughts on this. Having a Privacy policy is a must to protect customers privacy online.