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The Importance of Privacy Policies for Online Businesses
Why it is more important than ever to have a unique and customised Privacy Policies page
15:18 27 April 2018
Thanks to the recent revelations regarding the misuse of private Facebook information by companies like Cambridge Analytica, internet users are more concerned than ever before about who can have access to their information and how that information is put to use.
Upon learning the extent to which Cambridge Analytica managed to use their information in order to manipulate the US presidential elections, as well as the knowledge of what marketers do with this information on a daily basis, users are more careful than ever when choosing who to give their personal details to.
While before many would dismiss such a thing as paranoia, cases of stolen identity, unwanted solicitation and hacked accounts have made users finally take notice of the importance of protecting their data, and they are now demanding that online businesses ensure their privacy before they are willing to engage with them in any way. It is with that in mind that thousands of people across the world have even joined a campaign to boycott Facebook for not protecting their information by closing their account.
Industries with sensitive information
While every single online industry requires to assure users that their information will be well taken care of, there are some industries in particular where it is absolutely paramount that these companies keep their word and ensure full transparency in how they handle information.
The online casino industry is a particular example where consumers value their privacy and the safety of their information over practically anything else. With gambling still being a taboo subject in most places in the world, one that can possibly cause customers banks to prevent them from taking loans or to scrutinize their accounts, online gamblers are extremely cautious about where they play. This has given room for companies that have placed extreme focus on customer friendly privacy policies to arise, with some offering their players complete anonymity by not even requiring a registration process.
The online dating industry, particularly the problematic niche of affairs for married people, is another industry that depends on client’s information being kept absolutely private. Most people will remember the infamous Ashley Madison hack that exposed tens of thousands of married people’s information to the public, resulting in countless lives being hurt beyond repair. While that was not enough to put that niche out of business, it has resulted in users demanding better security protocols as well privacy policies that are fully transparent.
Transparency in explaining collected information
Collecting behavior information from clients has become a standard of online business, as it allows for companies to optimize the performance of the website according to not only the latest market trends, but specific visitor behavior as tracked by automated bots. While this is hardly something that should have negative impact on clients in any form, it is more important now than ever to make sure clients understand exactly what kind of information is being collected, how it’s collected, and what it is used for. A highly detailed and user-friendly privacy policy page is hugely important in this mission, as it will help clients understand how the info collected will improve their user experience by allowing sites to upgrade their user interface and technical flow, rather than compromise their sensitive information in any way.
A company that is wholly transparent on what they do with information is sure to attract more customers than any that is not completely forthright in their intentions, or that attempts to hide important details in their fine prints. In fact, the concert over such topic has grown to be such that companies have even set up 24/7 live technical support in order to brief visitors on any questions or doubts they may have about anything in their privacy policies. Going to such lengths to ease customer’s minds is by far the best way to win their trust, the most important element in ecommerce and online activities.
Boilerplate won’t cut it
Now that more and more users are taking the time to review the privacy policies and user agreements before they agree to them, it is more important than ever to have a unique and customized Privacy Policies page.
There are plenty of sites out there that simply copy policies found on other sites and change around the wording, if at all. This is absolutely a terrible practice that not only will confuse or alienate your users but will also leave you unprotected legally in case these do not fully represent your practices or do not cover all the necessary areas. Even if you are running a business on a shoestring budget, an inadequate privacy policy page could end up costing you much more than the legal fees it takes to create it.
Your Privacy Policy is there to act as your disclosure statement, informing visitors about how their information is used. However, it is also there to protect yourself from the FTC, COPPA and other legislators that can bring legal cases against any online company whose Privacy Policies page does not reflect their actual practices. This not only means that your policies need to be accurate once but also need to be routinely updated to reflect any changes in company practices or services.