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Monday, June 15, 2015

Online Privacy Policy Basics

When you want to give users confidence in your website, you'll need to post an Online Privacy Policy. As a consumer, you may have grown leery of sites that collect and sell your personal information. If you're a parent and want to protect your kids from companies that track them or sell to them, you may want to avoid sites that aren't upfront about their Online Privacy Policy. Getting it out in the open is good for customers and site owners.

Use the Online Privacy Policy document if:
You have created a website and you want to tell users or customers how your website uses the personal information collected.

Information is the currency of the Internet, and personal information has become a commodity. Protecting financial information like credit card numbers, addresses and phone numbers is a no-brainer, and an Online Privacy Policy can help put customers at ease. If your days are spent browsing the web, you'll want to know when you're being tracked by a trail of cookies, whether your personal data might be sold, and whether your inbox will start overflowing with unwanted solicitations. 

An Online Privacy Policy can also spell out whether a site collects demographic data such as age, gender, income, race, religion or political affiliation. Internet privacy laws are evolving, and if you run a website, you'll need to pay attention to legal requirements such as the Children's Online Privacy Act. Many sites voluntarily adopt rules that go above and beyond the law by creating an Online Privacy Policy. 

If you have questions about the legal requirements for privacy on your site, you should consult with an attorney. 

Other names for this document: Website Privacy Policy, Internet Privacy Policy



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